The Coming Dawn
by Infinity-formlesstree4
Summary: Police Captain Alex is leading the way when it comes to busting up crooks who try to take up what Team Rocket left off. However, can he endure the hardships once he realizes how brutal they really are? Chapter 18 online.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The rough edges

"Growlithe, can you smell anything?" I asked my partner nervously. He was already sniffing in the air, trying to track our target, but I like to make sure. He looked back at me

"Arf!" His enthusiasm was clear to me and the rest of the squad. I nodded and looked back at the rest of the squad.

"We're going to hit them hard and fast, I want no casualties on our end if possible. Use excessive force if necessary, but do not fire unless fired upon! Am I clear?" I shouted. Every person nodded, readying their own Growlithe. I held up three fingers.

_Three_.

There was some movement from inside, my Growlithe's ears went down and he began to growl. Someone might be heading out.

I put another finger down. _Two._

There was a creak of a door opening shortly followed by a slam.

I put down the final finger. _One._

A hooded figure rounded the corner right into us. My Growlithe leapt onto him, tackling him to the ground. I quickly pinned the man myself and looked at the squad.

"Go go go!" I shouted. "Move in!" The group stormed the house, kicking the door down, scaring the hell out of whatever was inside. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as I picked up the crook me and my Growlithe nailed. He barked happily as the two of us walked back to the squad car, shoving the guy in. I slammed my door shut and began to walk towards the house when jabber broke out on the radio.

"Shit! He's armed!" There was some static and the sounds of gunshot inside. I glanced at my Growlithe and the two of us ran into the house.

"SHOTS FIRED, SHOTS FIRED, PROCEED WITH DEADLY FORCE!" someone shouted up front. They let loose a spray of automatic fire into the doorway, instantly killing the man. I quickly rushed forward to check out the situation.

"Any of you injured?" I asked. They all glanced around and shook their heads. I nodded quickly and walked into the room where the dead gunman was now lying in a puddle of his own blood. A quick glance and there was nobody left.

"Alright, search the place for drugs, Pokémon, guns, and things of that nature. I'll be out front reporting to HQ." There was no outright confirmation behind me but I knew the men would do their jobs. I looked down again to make sure my Growlithe was following me, and sure enough, there he was, trotting along beside me. He glanced up and me and gave a little woof, making me smile. I got back to my squad car with the hooded guy still in the back and grabbed the radio.

"HQ this is Captain Alex, no casualties on our end." A brief pause

"…anything found yet?"

"No HQ, we'll give you a shout if we find something." I put down the radio before waiting for the typical confirmation message to come through. I knew the routine well; I had been doing it for nearly 3 years now after all. Looking around and realizing how open the street felt to me, I walked back into the house where the rest of the squad was.

"Anything special I should know about?" I asked. A few cops brought money, some brought some guns, and others brought some Pokémon balls with them. It appears they had hit the jackpot.

"Good job guys clean up here and let's head home." I smiled as a few shouts of happiness were heard amongst the crowd. They had been out all day busting similar houses like this one and were finally glad to be getting home. After a few more minutes of bustling around, I walked back to my cruiser, let Growlithe in the passenger side, hopped in on my own side, and led the convoy of police cars back to the station.

By the time we had arrived, it was getting late. The Sun was close to setting, and my eyes hurt. I was beginning to change in the locker room when a loud voice went off behind me.

"Hey Alex, good job today!" someone called out. I looked around to see the Chief standing behind me, his hand extended. I quickly finished pulling on some clothes and shook his hand.

"Thank you Chief, but it's been the Agents following leads that have done most of the work, I just take my group in and nail the bastards." The Chief chuckled a bit.

"Regardless, not a single casualty at all today, I think it might be a record, especially since there was live gunfire." The Chief turned around and faced the rest of the group.

"Congratulations to you all! May we have the same luck tomorrow!" I smiled as the rest of the group cheered in agreement, some stomping their feet as well. With that, the Chief walked off back to his room to get ready to leave for the night, just like everyone else.

…

After a few minutes in the locker room talking with the guys, I finally managed to crawl out of there, my Growlithe not far behind. I smiled and picked him up, scratching him behind the ears. He seemed to love the feel of it and snuggled up against my chest before long. By the time I reached my car, he was nearly zonked out. He should be, the two of us had a long day after all! Quietly opening the car door, I placed him in his special car seat and got in the driver's seat. As I began to pull out of the parking lot, something caught my eye. I noticed a couple of 'suspicious' individuals roaming the streets.

"I don't like the look of those guys." I said to myself. Glancing back, making sure Growlithe was still asleep, I began to slowly drive out onto the main road, making sure that I didn't draw attention to myself, and started tailing the individuals. It wasn't long before they made a turn onto another main road, this time, leading towards the rougher side of town, an area I wasn't assigned to crack down on…_yet_. Quickly making the turn, I followed along on the street, careful to not lose track of the two. After a lengthy walk, they turned down another street, this one heading towards downtown. I groaned as I started thinking about what I was getting into.

"Man, I shouldn't be doing this; I should just go home and sleep." I muttered to myself. I looked back to Growlithe, but he was drifting in dreamland right now. Sighing to myself, I made a decision.

_I'll follow them to where they stop; maybe it's nothing at all_. With that in mind, I turned my car down the same road they went and started scanning for them. Fortunately, I found them before they vanished again, as they walked into a Mini-Mart. I sighed in relief, and felt a pang of guilt.

_I judged them before I even knew their intentions. Now I feel awful._ Shrugging off the feeling for the moment, I turned myself around and proceeded to drive home.

…

Once I arrived home, I felt at ease. This was my safe haven. Yes, this is where I belonged when not at work. It might've been small, but it was the perfect size for me and my Growlithe. Hell, I could even fit one more Pokémon in here if I desired. It wasn't a massive apartment, but the rent was cheap, wasn't on the bad side of town, and I got a discount because I was a police officer. I quietly got out of my car and walked around to the back right passenger, where I had deposited Growlithe in his car seat earlier. He was completely out of it and didn't even move when I picked him up.

"Poor boy, you must be very tired." I said quietly. "We'll get you inside and well rested." I quickly got inside and walked back to my room, my own weariness catching me by surprise. I barely managed to stumble into my room and plop Growlithe onto his little bed and then get on my own. My body felt relieved to be lying down, so I could finally rest for the troubles that tomorrow will bring.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Just like any other day…

The buzzing of my alarm jolted me out of my sleep. I quickly hit the off button on it and sat up, rubbing my eyes. I glanced around the room, noticing that Growlithe was still fast asleep. I got up and walked over to his bed, bending over to pet him.

"Rise and shine buddy, it's time for work." I said petting him. He growled lightly and opened his eyes. I smiled and picked him up.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked him. He barked happily in reply. After cuddling and petting him for a few minutes, the two of us walked out to the kitchen area and looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. I didn't find anything good, so I walked over to the cabinets and grabbed a pop-tart and some of Growlithe's food. I poured him a bowl and the two of us ate breakfast in silence. Yawning, I looked at the clock. It was 9:02 A.M.

"Well boy, let's get ready for work." I said happily, getting up from the table. He barked and followed me back to my room. I opened my closet and grabbed a plain white shirt and a pair of jeans, quickly changing while Growlithe waited patiently on my bed for me to get finished. It took a few minutes to get my jeans on, and I nearly fell over twice, but we were good to go. I grabbed my car keys, my badge, and my gun and the two of us were running out to my car. I opened the rear passenger side door and Growlithe hopped into his car seat, barking happily, ready to go. I smiled at his excitement as I was equally happy to get going. I dashed around to the driver's side, opened the door, and got in. After fiddling around with the keys for a few seconds, I started the car, pulled out, and drove off to the police station.

…

The drive was short and uneventful, just like I like it. There was nothing out of the ordinary happening so far here in Cerulean City, which is good. It made my job, and my Growlithe's job, easier. As I pulled up to the police station, I noticed another officer running towards my car. I quickly myself and Growlithe out as the man arrived.

"Captain, glad you're finally here." He said.

"What seems to be the problem?" I asked. He pointed back to the station.

"The Chief wishes to speak with you, he told me to find you as soon as you arrived and to make sure you saw him first." I nodded and walked towards the station, both Growlithe and the man following.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Tom, sir!" He said proudly. I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Well good job Tom. You did your job well." He smiled happily. Once I entered the police station, I was bombarded with questions.

"Alex, why does the Chief wanna see you?"

"Did you do anything wrong Alex? You're not in trouble are you?"

"Maybe it's a promotion?"

"You're not getting fired are you?"

I looked around at the group of officers that made up my squad, and raised a hand to silence them.

"I don't know myself guys; just wait until I get back out. I'll tell you what I can afterwards." The crowd slowly dispersed, several talking amongst themselves. I sighed and looked down at my Growlithe, who was looking back up at me. I smiled and began walking towards the Chief's room, Tom still following behind the two of us.

"What's up Chief?" I asked as I walked into his room and sat down. Growlithe hopped up and sat on my lap to get a better view. The Chief cleared his throat and looked at the door where Tom was still standing. He waved his hand to dismiss Tom, who nodded and walked off, closing the door as he left. The Chief returned his attention to me.

"Captain, your performances the past few weeks have been phenomenal. I'm here to offer you a promotion." I raised an eyebrow as he finished the sentence. "A promotion?"

He nodded. "Yes. Recently, whether or not you know of it, we have started an undercover group inside the police force. They're small to avoid leaking information, so you probably haven't heard of them. Now, they're looking for a new member that is strong willed, smart, and compassionate about Pokémon. After yesterday, I had no doubt it was you." I smiled at his compliments.

"Well thank you sir, but what am I going to be doing?" I asked.

"That's the hard part. We've been getting reports from the group that something big has been going on under our noses, something that's been kept well hidden from us. We have a way into this big operation that some gang has been running, and you're our man that's going to be on the inside." I nodded, understanding where this was going.

"I'm going to be the man that takes them down from the inside?" I asked. The Chief nodded.

"You'll be supplying us with information as often as you can, and as safely as you can. The top priority is your safety. If you can't give us intel daily, nightly, or whenever, then don't. The longer you're inside, the more they can trust you and the more they'll show you." I nodded again.

"Now, you will be given five additional Pokémon so you will have a full team of six at your disposal. They'll be extremely loyal to you and will obey your every command." Growlithe looked up at the Chief.

"Wait, do I have a choice in the ones I get, or are they randomly selected from a stockpile?" The Chief got up and motioned for me to follow. I picked Growlithe up and set him down on the ground as I got up to follow the Chief. The three of us walked towards the back of the police station and opened a random door. He motioned for me and Growlithe to go in first, so we did. He followed behind us and closed the door, locking it. My mouth dropped. There were hundreds of rows of Pokéballs, literally hundreds of rows, of every kind that I could imagine.

"You get to pick five." The Chief said. "And do me a favor; don't tell people about this room…I really don't want to increase security on it." I chuckled a bit and nodded. "You got it Chief" He nodded and went to the door.

"I'll be right here when you get done." He said from the doorway. Grunting in acknowledgement, I began to walk up and down the rows, looking at each ball. The rows were ordered alphabetically in their sections, and the columns by their levels. After walking around for a bit, I found one I was interested in, a mid-level Ninetails for extra fire support. Browsing a bit more, I ran into the water sections and checked out the stock there. I was surprised to see a Feraligatr, a high level one at that. I took that Pokéball as well and continued walking up and down the rows eventually coming to a halt at the flying section. He immediately found a high level Swellow that was to his liking, and took that one.

_That makes…four now. I need two more._

He walked around a bit more towards the ground type section and found something he truly didn't expect to find: A Donphan. Not just any Donphan, but a high level one. I glanced back up to the Chief.

"Where on earth do you guys manage to get them?" I asked, completely blown away still at all the Pokémon here. He chuckled lightly.

"Donated, obtained from bad trainers, things like that." He explained. "If we couldn't take them or train them for the police force, they were donated to charity organizations that would use them for their purposes, or give them to families that have a use for them." I nodded, happy with that answer and returned to my search.

_I wonder if a poison type would be a good idea, or if I should get a psychic type instead. I might do psychic for their detection purposes, but if there's a dark type out there, I could be in deep shit with a psychic type….still wouldn't be a bad idea to get one though._ On that thought, I walked around till I found the psychic section and began closely examining what the station had to offer and I found exactly what I was looking for, an Espeon. I took the ball and examined what I all had.

_In total, I have my trusty Growlithe, Ninetails, Feraligatr, Swellow, Donphan, and an Espeon. Quite a well balanced team if I do say so myself._ Feeling satisfied, I walked back to the Chief, showing him what I got. He nodded, looking satisfied as well.

"Does your Growlithe approve?" He asked. I looked down at him; his tail was wagging rather fast. He barked happily, and I took it as his approval.

"I think so Chief." I said smiling. "It appears we're all good." He nodded and opened the door for us to exit. Once out, he securely sealed the room and locked the door.

"Follow me to your new location." He began to walk off but I didn't move. After a few moments, he realized nobody was following him and turned around.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked. I kind of stared at him, barely understanding his words.

"What about…my old squad…" I asked a bit dazed. "They have no idea…and I was going to tell them what happened after we got done." The Chief shook his head and sighed and walked back towards me.

"Listen kid, I'll tell them that you just got a promotion to something else. If they try to pester you, say you're doing something top secret and you can't tell anyone what it is." He said quietly. "It's the best that I can do for you at this point, sorry that I didn't think about that earlier." I nodded slowly, his words finally beginning to make some sense to me.

"O…Ok then." I said. "Let's get going." The two of us walked down the hallway back to the main room. I thought we'd be heading upstairs towards the desks and other small rooms where the other new groups were located, but we kept going until we reached a staircase that led downstairs somewhere. In all actuality, it dead ended, leaving us facing a simple soda machine.

"Do you have a quarter?" The Chief asked. I reached into my pocket and surprisingly found a few quarters. I handed one to him and watched him put it in and move out of the way.

"Punch the top, third, second, and fifth buttons in that order." I did as he said and watched as the machine came to life and began to vibrate. Then, suddenly the front of it swung open to a hidden chamber inside it. I was completely blown away as it led into a different room, a very high tech looking room. There were a few people in the room; most were too busy to realize that the two of us had entered seemingly through the wall until the Chief cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, this is Captain Alex, the one I told you about." He indicated to me. "He'll be assisting you in your underground investigations now and you might want to break him in. He has no clue what the differences are." With that he turned around and walked out back into the station leaving me and my Growlithe standing alone. I looked down at my Growlithe and back out to them, they seemed friendly enough, and one even waved at me. I nervously waved back as one stood up and walked over to me. It took a second, but I recognized them.

"T…Tom?" I asked, feeling slightly puzzled. "Is that you?" He nodded and smiled at me.

"Yep, sure is Alex. Welcome to the team!" He said happily. "Let's get you introduced and settled in, you're in for a long and difficult ride with us, but the pay is good and you get quite a bit of leeway on what you can or cannot do." With that, Tom began to introduce me to everyone that was on the team.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dreamlike reality

A/N: Well, 3rd chapter already. Didn't think I'd be able to get a good plot going, but I think I'll pick it up soon. nameisDooM asked me where the Gardevoirs' are and I'm here to say this: She is coming.

I opened my eyes to a dark void surrounding me. I quickly glanced around and realized I was totally lost, just that I was lying on the 'ground' in this dark area. With that in mind, I slowly stood up and looked around for someone, anyone, hell **anything** recognizable. My search was in vain, all I could see was an endless black void. I rubbed my eyes for a bit and did a complete 360 and off in the distance, I noticed something. It was small whatever it was, and there was a light above it illuminating down. Puzzled I started walking towards it, my footsteps echoing off into the distance.

Once I got close enough to make out what it was, I was shocked at what I saw. In front of me now was a tiny blue haired Ralts. I rubbed my eyes again to make sure they weren't deceiving me, but they weren't! I had only heard about them in stories. It was rare to see a normal one, but a blue haired one? It was nearly unheard of!

As I approached it I realized that…it was crying. The Ralts was huddled over, trembling with fear.

"Hello?" I called out quietly.

_Go away!_ A female voice whispered in my head. I looked around for the source of the noise, but saw nobody.

"Are you OK Ralts?" I asked.

_Go away!_ The voice was even smaller. After thinking for a second, I realized where the voice was coming from; it was coming from the Ralts.

"Ralts? Is that you?" I whispered. "What's wrong?"

_No! You'll just hurt me again!_ She said her sobbing increasing. _Just go away!_

The pain in her voice was heart wrenching. I took a step closer which caused her to look up. The tears were flowing down her little face, her already red eyes even redder from what appeared to be hours of crying.

_What do you wa-…!_ She stopped mid-sentence when she looked at me. She slowly turned around and looked at me as I got on one knee.

_You…you don't look like them._ She whispered. _Who…who are you?_

"I'm Alex. Why were you crying Ralts?" I asked her, holding out a hand. She moved away from my hand, eyeing it warily. Her movements disturbed me. I had never met her before, but here was this little Ralts shying away from my hand. Did something happen to her?

"Ralts, what happened? Did something happen to you?" She turned her head and a few more tears ran down her face.

_No…no I can't! I can't!_ She whispered. _No, I won't!_ She suddenly started shouting and screaming at something invisible, her eyes wide with fear.

_Get away from me!_ She screamed. _Get back! Don't come any closer!_ There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and she doubled over, crying out in pain. I jumped up and took a step closer, my heart racing.

"Ralts! Ralts, what's going on?" I said, panic slowly engulfing me. "Tell me! Maybe I can help you!"

_Get off of me!_ She screamed. _Someone, anyone, help me!_ Her eyes rolled into her head and she collapsed in front of me, becoming completely lifeless. I sat there for a second, trying to think of what to do. Common sense slapped me and I jumped up and bounded towards her. I went to grab her hand and realized that I phased right through her, like grabbing a hologram.

"What the hell?" I said. "I can't even grab her. What the hell is this!" Very slowly, everything around me began to fade out.

"Ralts? Hello? What's going on!" I shouted. "Ralts! Ralts!" Soon, the darkness engulfed me and everything was silent.

…

I jolted up in my bed. My heart was racing and I was slick with sweat, breathing rapidly, and freaking out.

_Just what the hell was that? Was it a dream?_ My mind was racing. I truly hoped that was just a dream, whatever the hell that was. Trying to slow my heart rate down, I glanced at the clock and checked the time. It was a little after three in the morning. I ran my hand through my hair and took a few more deep breaths finally calming down my racing heart. Just for safe measures, I glanced down to the floor towards Growlithe's bed and saw him resting peacefully. By now, my breathing and heart rate had returned to normal.

"I hope I don't have that dream again…" I said quietly. Lying back down, I silently said a prayer hoping that that Ralts, real or not, was safe.

...

My morning alarm woke me up without much hassle. I hadn't gotten much sleep since I woke up from the nightmare. I slowly turned off my alarm and sat up, rubbing my eyes. That dream was still vividly playing in my mind. What was happening to her? Most importantly, why couldn't I help her? I soon realized I wouldn't get anything done if I were to sit around and do nothing, so I got up and woke Growlithe up as well.

"Morning buddy, sleep well?" He barked happily and licked my face making me laugh.

"Well, let's get some breakfast and start the day off, shall we?" The two of us walked into the kitchen where I poured him a bowl of food and got a bowl of cereal for myself and tried to keep my mind off the dream from last night. After breakfast, I walked back to my room and began changing into something else, my mind not really thinking about anything when a bark from Growlithe brought me back to reality. I looked back to see him pacing around a bit. I glanced at the time and realized I was running late.

"Thanks buddy." I said, speeding up the pace. "We have to get to work!" After a few more seconds of changing, I grabbed him, my keys, my wallet, and my badge. We jumped in the car, and I quickly sped off to work.

…

After arriving at work and getting into the secret room in the station, I met up with Tom for a briefing on my latest mission.

"It's not gonna be easy." He said as we walked to the computer and began typing. "But we have you inserted already…just need to get you to the arrival spot on time later today…" My mind froze, did he just say later today?

"Wait, whoa, today? I haven't even had training for undercover missions!" I stammered. "How do you expect me to p-" He held up a hand.

"It's easy, just act natural." He said smiling. "Don't be afraid to show a dark side if necessary. We need to make sure they can trust you enough to let you in." I stiffened at what he said.

_Not so easy to show a dark side when you're not used to doing that._ I thought. _I mean seriously, I only show that side when we're busting criminals…_ My Growlithe barked again and looked at Tom and Tom looked at me.

"What's he saying? I can't understand him." Tom said. "Have him repeat it to you." I looked down at Growlithe who was still looking at Tom so I whistled to get his attention.

"Growlithe, what's up?" I asked him. "Can ya repeat that?" He barked a few more times and I got the message.

"He's worried about our safety." I said. "He doesn't want to risk me getting injured." Tom stopped typing on the computer and looked down at Growlithe.

"Sorry boy, but there's always the possibility that this will end badly for you two. I cannot guarantee the safety of your master or his team which includes you too." Tom said. "It's a sad thought to say, but it's true." Growlithe nodded and looked back at me.

"I'm willing to take the risk if you are." He nodded again and wagged his tail. I looked back at Tom.

"We're ready."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Into the burning oven

Yeah…I was nervous at this point. Tom was driving me and my team of Pokémon to the designated drop off point. I was told to keep all my Pokémon inside their respective Pokéballs until further notice in case they tried to do something stupid which in that case I had a hand gun to take them out with.

"Just relax Alex, you'll do fine." Tom said. "Just remember, your new name is Justin, not Alex. Do not ever respond to Alex from them. That'll be like signing your death certificate." I nodded, glancing around at the neighborhood we were driving through. This was the bad side of town, the slums. I knew these areas quite well actually as many of our gang busts were in this side of town.

"Oi, Justin, you listening?" Tom said. I returned my focus to the situation at hand. It was time to get serious.

"Yeah Tom, I am. Are we nearly there?" I asked. Despite how serious I sounded, my gut was tearing itself apart. I had a feeling this was going to end badly.

"Nearly there, about two minutes away…actually make that none. We're here." I nodded as he slowed the car to a stop. The two of us got out of the car and I followed Tom down a narrow alleyway.

"From what they know about you, you're a leader type. You aren't afraid to talk back and you aren't afraid to step on people, so make sure you act tough." Tom whispered.

"Damn it Tom, I wish you would have told me this before we got here." I said angrily. Not only did I have to quell my stomach, I now have to be tough in front of these guys and brush off any insults they give me. Thanks Tom, thanks a fucking bunch.

"Well there was little time to prep you. We had to make this meeting else it was all over." He whispered. "Now keep your voice down, we're approaching the door to get in." Just as we rounded a corner, I noticed a single metal door, one person on either side.

"Hold it right there you two." One of them called out. "What's yer business?"

"I gots' me a new recruit here you morons." He said, suddenly putting on a southern accent. "Now I suggest ya get out of my way before I pommel you!" Both men looked at each other then back to Tom. I was sure that they weren't going to let us and my hand moved slightly towards my gun.

"Is that you Erwin? I couldn't see ya in the dark." One of the men said apologetically. "Sorry, you and yer…friend can come in." He grabbed the handle of the door and threw it open, revealing a very long and seemingly endless hallway. The two of us walked past the guards without any further words between us. Once they closed the doors, Tom stopped walking

"Ok, put on your game face, it's time for action." He said quickly. "We have one chance to do this right and if we don't, we both die, got it?" I nodded nervously, my heart pounding.

"Nothing like gambling with our lives to make that adrenaline go off eh?" he said with a smile. "I can see it in your eyes. They probably will too if you're not careful, keep control of your emotions." I nodded again, not wanting to say anything. I was afraid for my life, yes, and the lives of the Pokémon I brought with me.

"Sure…whatever you say Tom." I said quietly. He held up a hand.

"No, it's Erwin. Don't call me Tom while we're here, got it?" He said seriously. "Our real names can get us killed, so watch your tongue. Now, put on your game face, seriously, at the end of the hallway is where things get serious." I nodded again and we started walking once more.

"Don't show your weapon unless we have to. These guys are serious, but they'd rather resort to Pokémon then weapons to avoid attention from the police." Tom said. "It's not like we don't pay attention to Pokémon injuries, but it's less likely to draw unwanted attention if someone got injured due to Pokémon instead of a gunshot."

"That makes sense. I would rather look into a gunshot victim, thinking it might be gang related. A Pokémon fight doesn't really seem gang related. These guys are smart for that" I said. Tom nodded and we continued in silence. We finally came to the end of the hallway and rounded the corner to another hallway lined with doors and a few people standing around.

"Ah, Erwin, welcome." One of them said. "We were waiting for you and your…recruit." He motioned for me to follow him. I looked at Tom who nodded, so I followed the man down the hallway.

"Name's Justin." He said. "Yours?" I looked at him in shock.

"Bullshit! Mine's Justin too!" I said with a smile. "What a coincidence." He chuckled a bit and nodded.

"Yep, it's a good name." He said, and then stopped before a door. "This here's the door to the bosses' room. Just take it easy, and you'll be fine." He slapped my back and walked off, leaving me staring at the door. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

It was not what I expected.

This office was clean, tidy, and looked official. There was a single person at the end of the office, sitting at a desk. He was writing something on a piece of paper before turning to the computer. He then quietly motioned for me to come over to the desk and join him. Not knowing what else to do, I walked over to him and stood in front of the desk.

"Hello there Justin, my name is Giovanni." He said, turning his full attention to me. My stomach dropped and my heart began to race a bit. Giovanni was the leader of the notorious Team Rocket…but they were destroyed years and years ago, what the hell was he up to now?

"Hello there Giovanni." I said politely, trying to keep my voice even. He smiled and turned back to the computer.

"I know why you are here Justin. You wish to join my organization. Well, let me tell you something, we don't accept just anyone." He said. "You need to prove yourself to me, that's why you are here in this room." I nodded and he looked up at me.

"There are two chairs behind you; you can take a seat in one. I assure you that you won't be attacked during this interview." I looked behind me and grabbed one of the chairs, moving it forward and taking a seat.

"Now, let's begin." He said, turning back to me.

"Have you ever been in jail?" I shook my head.

"Have you ever deceived a police man or woman before?" Again, I shook my head.

"Have you committed a felony?" he asked.

"No, what's with these questions, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked politely. "These all have to do with the law, and it's gotten me a bit curious." He smiled.

"I don't want anyone with a criminal record entering this organization. It's easy to tell if someone is lying if you know what to look for." He said. "We're finished here. Welcome to the organization my friend." He held out his hand. I smiled and shook it.

"You may exit and talk to the other Justin again. He'll get you setup." Giovanni said, returning to his computer. "I'm leaving soon for the main HQ, so we won't talk for quite some time."

"OK, um…do I call you sir or boss?" He looked up and laughed.

"Boss will do." He said smiling.

"Ok boss." I said, walking out of the room. As I closed the door, I took a deep breath to slow my racing heart. I had just talked to the ex-boss of Team Rocket who was now in charge of another organization. Jesus Christ, this really isn't good. I finally calmed my racing heart and walked back towards where Tom and Justin were at. It was Tom who first noticed me.

"Hey Justin!" He called out. "How'd it go?" I gave him the thumbs up and he smiled.

"Great! Let's get him a position shall we Justin?" He said, talking to the other Justin. He nodded and stood up.

"We need a hand in the Pokémon and human recreation department. You'll be a bouncer since Erwin here told me you have a strong team." He said.

"That's true, they're pretty tough." I said smiling. "It takes a lot to take them down." The other Justin nodded and walked off.

"Follow me. We'll get you started."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Dark Side

Justin and I walked through many hallways, so many in fact that I had gotten turned around and was completely lost. Justin looked back and I think he noticed my confusion.

"Don't worry Justin." He said smiling. "When we get to your destination, I'll give you an electronic map that tells you where you are."

"Thanks, I don't want to get lost around here. It's quite a large facility." He nodded and we continued the rest of the way in total silence. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking, we came up to a door with a keypad on it. Justin pressed several buttons on the keypad and the door opened, revealing a rather nice looking room. The floor was white carpet, the walls were smooth marble, and there were several comfortable looking benches and chairs. On top of all that, there were tables that held enormous amounts of food, ranging from small appetizers to full blown meals. There was a single door on one side, and four doors on the other side, all were solid doors that could not be seen through.

"What room is this?" I asked him. "And why is nobody in here but us?"

"This is our Pokémon 'Service' Lobby. Our guests come here and wait for a free room." He pointed to a series of doors. "Your job is to make sure the guests don't break out fighting amongst themselves." I smiled a little bit, seeing this a bit ironic since my real job shares that similarity.

"Any questions?" He asked. I shook my head. He nodded and pulled out a small device.

"This device allows you to view your current location inside the building as well as request additional reinforcements if required. If your Pokémon are as strong as Erwin has said, you should be fine for security." He said, then he handed me a badge.

"Put this on the front of your shirt. It's a badge that indicates you're the head of security for this floor." I nodded and put on the badge. It suck right to my clothes and looked pretty good actually.

"Thanks, anything else?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Well, don't go into the doors on the left side. They are for the customers only." He said, pointing to the four doors. "Other than that, nope, should be it. Take care, and call if you need backup." I nodded and he walked back to the doorway we came through and closed it. I was shocked to see it blend in perfectly with the rest of the marble wall. I walked around and picked a spot near the entrance door and closed my eyes. I've got nothing to do but wait for ten minutes for people to arrive.

…

Ten minutes later, the door opened up and the first person walked in. He was a somewhat elderly man with short gray hair and was wearing a brown suit and pants with a brown hat. I opened my eyes and stood up from the bench, and started to walk around.

"Good evening young man." He said, noticing me. "Am I early?" I checked my device and shook my head.

"No sir, you're right on time. The door wouldn't have opened before the appropriate time." He smiled, looking quite pleased with himself and walked to a door on the opposite side of the room.

"I'll be in here for some time young man." He said, looking back to me. "Just thought I should let you know." I nodded and he went inside the door. I tried to catch a glimpse of what was in there, but it was dark. I sighed and continued to walk around, trying to keep from wanting to fall asleep.

_Remember why you're here Alex. Remember the real reason. I'm here to bust this place for criminal activities._ I smiled to myself at what I was supposed to achieve, and I hoped that Tom had some good stuff going on his end too. The entrance door opened up again and several people walked in, all wearing suits of varying colors. They nodded at me and some went off to the other doors, while the rest went to the food and benches to eat and relax.

_If this is all that's going to happen, this is either going to go by really slow, or very fast. Either way, I don't want to fight someone in a battle._ I sighed and continued to walk around when the door opened again. A single man walked in looking rather drunk and disoriented. His suit was a wrinkled mess, and he looked like he hadn't showered for days. The moment the door closed, my device went off. I looked at it and noticed it was an incoming call. I pressed the answer button.

"Yes." I said.

"_Kindly escort the man who just entered the room out. If he doesn't go nicely, use force."_

"You got it." I approached the drunk who was now making his way to the benches.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I said to him. He stopped moving towards the benches and looked at me like I was crazy.

"D-dooo youuu…have aaaaahney idea…*hiccup* whooo I am?" he said, slurring his words.

"I do not sir, I've been told to escort you out. Please come with me." I said, indicating towards the entrance door. He stuck his tongue out and continued walking towards the bench.

_Drunken man…is trying my patience._

"Sir, I'm going to ask you once more to please leave. I do not want to hurt you." He snickered, hiccupped and sat down on a bench. I sighed and walked to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, picking him up completely off the bench.

"I asked you nicely twice, now I am going to tell you." I said, deepening the tone of my voice. "You _will_ leave this room." He pushed me back, forcing me to let go of his shirt.

"Ooooooooooooh really?" he said, pulling out a small knife. "I'm am afri*hiccup* sorry that will not won't happen!" I pulled out a Pokéball and released my Growlithe. The man looked at Growlithe and laughed hysterically.

"Doo you *hiccup* takfe meh fer' a moroun?" he asked, walking slowly towards me rather erratically. My Growlithe barked and growled at the man. I held my hand out and Growlithe stopped growling.

"Leave now or I will hurt you." I said calmly. _After this, I will use the force I've been granted to use._ The man laughed and lunged towards me and time seemed to slow down. I grabbed his knife hand and twisted it, causing his grip on the knife to break. While the knife was dropping to the ground, I whipped the same arm around to his back and rotated our bodies so he was facing the ground and I was on his back. The whole scene happened in under a second that if anyone blinked they would've missed it. The drunk was now face down on the ground, his knife arm pinned to his back by my hand and knee with Growlithe growling at him, guarding the knife. I grabbed his other arm and picked him up.

"Now, you will leave." I walked to the main door and opened it, throwing the man outside and closing the door. I looked at Growlithe and bent over, scratching him behind his ears.

"Thanks boy, looks like I didn't need your help in the end." I said, smiling. He barked and I returned him to his ball. The other guests seemed to look over me for a second as if re-evaluating me. I shrugged and sat back down, waiting for the end of my shift.

…

Three hours later, the secret door opened and Justin walked in. By this time the room was very crowded with thirty guests inside. Justin paid them no mind and walked straight towards me.

"Very nice job earlier." He said casually.

"You were watching?" He nodded.

"Yes, I was the one that gave the order to have him removed."

"But…who was he?"

"A man of no importance; he comes in occasionally to seemingly piss us off." Justin said, stretching. "We'll be getting a shipment of Pokémon in a few minutes. I know it's late-" he checked his watch. "-yeah, I know it's going on eight at night, but can you give us a hand? We need some security to make sure nothing happens." I nodded and he looked pleased.

"Good, follow me. Someone will relieve you of your position soon anyway." The two of us got up and walked over to the hidden door. He placed his hand on a spot and the door beeped and slid open. We quietly walked in and shut the door behind us.

"You can keep one if you want." Justin said.

"Pardon me?"

"In the group we're getting. You can keep one of them. I even heard there was a very rare one in there."

"Well thanks, where are they coming from?"

"A shipment from the Saffron branch." He replied. "Now let's hurry. You'll get first pick, I guarantee it." I nodded and yawned, getting sleepy after doing hardly anything all day. The path to the back was long and confusing, like the one I had to take to the room, but we finally arrived in the back. There were three men waiting for us with a giant truck.

"There they are." He said, tensing up. "I don't trust them so watch our backs."

"You got it." I decided to let Justin do all the talking while I hung back a bit, keeping a careful eye on all three of them. After a few minutes, they opened the back and my heart dropped. There were Pokémon in handcuffs and scattered everywhere. Many of them had bruises on them and others had scattered cuts. It's a good thing none of them saw me, I was close to tears. My heart was hurting for them, and I felt like throwing up. Then something touched my mind. It was a familiar touch and it startled me enough that I made a noise of surprise.

"Something up back there?" Justin called out. I looked up and shook my head. He shrugged and went back talking to the three guys again.

_I know this touch…it feels like the same one when I had the dream…but that was just a dream right?_ I tried to convince myself I was having some de-ja-vu, but when I looked up at the truck again I saw a sight I will never forget: A tiny, small blue haired Ralts being dragged out of the truck. When it resisted, one of the goons jumped in and kicked it. My eyes widened with shock and outrage as I nearly ran to the truck.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Stop that!" Justin looked back over at me and then into the truck. He saw the man kicking the Ralts and ordered him to stop. I soon was at the back of the truck and jumped in.

"Don't kick her." I said angrily. "I won't have the Pokémon I want injured by some person." The man looked at me and his hand went into his pocket. The Ralts was still cowered in a small ball and was looking up at me, tears streaming down her eyes.

"What was that you punk?" he said, pulling out a knife. "I'll treat my cargo however the hell I want to."

"Hey, calm down." Justin said. "I said he could have one, so if he wants that damn Ralts so bad, let him. There are plenty others here." Indeed there were. Several Arcanine, Ninetails, even Vulpix. They were all drugged to the point where they were almost passed out. But there was Ralts, sitting there and cowering in a little ball. The man looked at me, then back to Justin and he put the knife away.

"Not worth my time anyway." He muttered. I smiled in thanks to Justin who nodded back and I leaned down to the Ralts and held out a hand.

"Ralts?" I asked quietly. "Hello there." The Ralts flinched a little bit at my hand approaching her, but soon she reached out and touched my hand. I smiled happily and picked her up. Justin motioned for me to hop out of the truck as the rest of the Pokémon were being shifted out as well. Once I was out, Justin pulled me to the side.

"I don't know what the hell happened just now, but I won't save your ass next time." He said seriously. His gaze softened when he looked at the Ralts who was now holding on to my shirt tightly.

"You made a good pick. She seems to feel comfortable around you." He said quietly. "Blue hair…that makes her very rare; you watch yourself now, take good care of that little one. Who knows what she's been through in our organization." He walked off.

"Uh…how do I get back up front? Erwin is my ride." He pointed to a single door that was kind of far back from where we walked out and waved. I took off towards that door holding the Ralts in my hand. Something brushed against my mind again and this time I was sure it was the Ralts.

"If you can hear me, I'm gonna get you to a Pokémon Center." I whispered. "I'll make sure you get the help you need." There was a slight moan from Ralts who shuddered a bit in my arms.

…

After a bit of a small dash through the facility and having several people look at me strangely, I made it back to where I first left Erwin. He was waiting for me there and noticed me holding the Ralts.

"What's that you got there Justin?" Erwin asked. I shook my head and slowed to a walk.

"Just need to…*pant*…get to a Pokémon Center." I said breathing heavily. "Pulled this one…from the shipment…" Erwin looked me over for a second.

"Shipment? They let you have one?" He asked. I nodded and looked down at Ralts. Her breathing was still steady, but the imprint of that bastards' boot was clearly visible. Erwin shrugged and started walking towards the exit.

"Alright then, let's get going." The two of us walked out the front exit and towards his car. Once in his car, he pulled off my badge and looked it over carefully.

"What are you-"he held up a hand and cut me off. After a few seconds of searching he pulled on something and the badge popped open. Inside it were a few electronic boards and he quickly fiddled with it, turning it off.

"Ok, now we can talk freely." He said and looked at me. "What the hell were you thinking?" I flinched a bit at the tone of his voice.

"I saved a Ralts from a lifetime of abuse." I said quietly. "She's already injured as it is."

"Wait, what did you say?" He asked.

"I saved her from abuse. The whole pack of them from Saffron looked like they were heavily abused, and they said I could take one so I d-"he stopped me again.

"We're done for the night. You are now off the case too." I looked at him, my mouth dropped.

"What do you-"I began to protest but he stopped me.

"You now hold valuable evidence against them, not to mention you're an eye witness to the crimes they've committed." He explained. "I'm not about to risk you getting exposed. I'll pull you out, but you'll have to lie low for a while to let any problems blow off." I sighed and nodded.

"OK, but can we get to a Center? I want to make sure nothing's really wrong with her." I said, looking down at Ralts. Tom nodded and started the car.

"You are one crazy son of a bitch, but you really know how to go get things done." He said, laughing. "Their boss must've liked you or something since you got in such a high position." I nodded and looked over to Tom.

"You do know who the boss is right?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Nah, I talked to the assistant boss. He said that the head guy was at Main for a checkup and would be back…did you talk to the real boss?"

"Yeah…it's Giovanni." I said. Tom slammed on the brakes.

"WHAT?" he shouted. Ralts whimpered and buried her head into my chest, clenching even harder on my clothes. I glared at him.

"Quiet!" I hissed at him. "She's had it rough." He nodded and continued driving.

"Is it really Giovanni?" He asked. I nodded and sighed.

"Yeah…it's really him. Looks like this could be bigger than we thought right?" I asked. Tom nodded.

"Yeah, way bigger… we're gonna need to inform the Kanto Pokémon League about this. For now, though, your job is to care for that Ralts. Your police badge gives you the power to have all Pokémon listen to you since you're a protector of the laws, so there shouldn't be any issues with that Ralts. You also can just keep those Pokémon the Chief gave to you; you might need them to protect yourself." We arrived at the Pokémon Center, and not a moment too soon. Ralts began coughing up blood on my shirt, startling both of us.

"Good God, get her inside!" He said with his voice a clear octave higher than usual. I threw the car door open and jumped out, holding Ralts close to my chest and running into the Pokémon Center. The doors slid open and the nurse behind the counter looked up and saw me running towards the counter. I must have been quite the sight. Here I was, blasting into a Pokémon Center holding this blue haired Ralts that had coughed up blood on my shirt. She froze for a second before running around the counter and meeting me half way into the center.

"What happened?" She asked. Tom ran up behind me before I could answer.

"We found her like this; someone had done something bad to her." He said. She nodded and ran off with her towards the back.

"Come on you two!" she called out. I looked at Tom.

"Why didn't we tell her-"I whispered before he cut me off.

"She can't know, not now at least." He explained. "So come on, let's get back there." He took off running where the nurse went to.

_Ugh…more lying and deceiving. I don't like doing this._ I shook my head a bit and ran after them, trying to get dark thoughts out of my mind.

…

Ralts was lying on a medical bed, several tubes going into her body. The nurse explained what they did, but I wasn't listening. Since Tom had left, I was holding Ralts' hand with my head on the bed, just looking where her eyes were. I was silently praying that they would open and that she would be OK.

"…and she should make a full recover. You were lucky to get her here when you did." The nurse was saying. "Her internal injuries were pretty brutal; someone had beaten the snot out of her repeatedly. Also…this is pretty bad, but it appears as if there were some…injuries in special parts." My head shot up and I looked at her.

"You can't mean…" I said. _Those sick bastards…they better not have._ She nodded.

"Someone attempted to rape her. Now, Pokémon human relationships aren't common, they're rare and legal, but raping a Pokémon, especially a young one like this is illegal!" I felt tears running down my face.

"It…it wasn't a dream…" I said quietly. The nurse looked at me.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? I didn't hear you." I looked back up at her and shook my head, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." She nodded and looked at her clipboard. "Um…can I stay here for the rest of the night?" She looked back at me.

"Yes you can, are you going to adopt this Pokémon?" I nodded and looked at Ralts again, checking to see if she moved.

"Ok, I'll have you fill out some paperwork in the morning. For now, you can sleep in the bed next to this one." She said, pointing to the bed. I nodded and walked over to it, lying down and turning over to face her. The constant beep of her heart monitor formed a steady rhythm that slowly put me to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Protection

I felt a small hand press my shoulder, stirring me out of my dreams. I wasn't willing to wake up just yet, so I kind of rolled away from the hand. I heard someone sigh and push on my other shoulder. I moaned a bit and opened my eyes. It was morning, and I was still in the Pokémon Center. I slowly sat up and looked around. The nurse was standing over my bed and smiling at me.

"Good morning!" she said. "Did you sleep well?" I nodded and yawned once more. She turned around back towards the bed.

"You know, twice during the night, you seemed to move a bit closer to this Ralts here." She said. "How exactly did you find her again?"

"I told you." I said, still yawning. "My friend and I found her in the field." She seemed unsatisfied with that answer, but didn't pursue the subject. She seemed to focus her attention back on Ralts, who looked better than she did last night.

"So, how is she doing today?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going. "How much longer is she going to need to be in here?"

"I think you can check her out in a few hours…which reminds me, let me go grab the paperwork you need in order to check her out. You do have a trainer license, right?" She said, looking back to me.

"I'm a police officer, so yes." That news seemed to surprise her a bit.

"Erm…OK officer. I'll have the paperwork up soon." She quickly walked out of the room and closed the door. I chuckled to myself at her sudden change in attitude towards me. It seems being an officer either made people scared and nervous, or confident. I looked over at Ralts. Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing seemed more stable and less erratic. At least she wasn't coughing up any blood. I stood up, walked over to her bed, and slowly pet her on the head.

"Just glad you're doing OK now." I said quietly. "Soon I'll be able to take you home and keep you safe." The nurse came in with a clipboard and a few pieces of paper on it.

"OK officer, you just need to fill out a few spaces and she's officially yours." The nurse said with a smile. I nodded and took the clipboard.

_She's filled out quite a bit of the information already. This makes my job easier._ A few of the slots were asking about previous ownership and survival questions. They were required to make sure an idiot wouldn't take a Pokémon into their possession and accidentally kill it the first day. Fortunately they were simple to answer and I handed her the clipboard.

"Alright, and do you want a Pokéball for her to go in now or later?" she asked.

"I think I'll put her in one later, but for now I want her outside so she can get used to me." The nurse nodded and checked a few monitors.

"Her signs have improved quite well since you woke up. This is good news!" she said happily. "I think you can take her home in an hour at this rate, maybe sooner. It depends on when she wakes up fr-" She stopped mid-word as Ralts slowly opened up her eyes. I smiled happily and pet Ralts again.

"Hey Ralts, how you doin'?" I asked. "You feel OK?"

"Raaal." Ralts said. I smiled a bit and continued to pet her.

"Well, she's awake. This is good. Her injuries are healing extremely fast. She might've bonded to you already just because you saved her." The nurse said. "Either way, I think she'll be in good hands now."

"Thank you." I said happily. "I'll do my best to protect her."

"Good! Now, if you have something you need to do, go ahead and do it. It'll still be an hour or two before I decide to release her so go do something to keep yourself occupied until then." I nodded and slowly got up to leave.

"Ralll…" Ralts said weakly, holding her arm out. I smiled at her.

"I have to go for now Ralts, I'll pick you up in an hour, OK?" I have no clue if she understood, but she put her arm down and relaxed. It pained me to leave her, as I wanted to stay until I she was in my possession, but I had to get home and change.

…

I was cursing at myself. I had left my car at home, meaning I had to either get a cab, which was unlikely, ride the bus, which I had no money to pay for at this moment, or walk home. I decided to walk home instead.

"God this sucks." I said angrily. "Left my car at home, now I get to walk home from the Pokémon Center." This wouldn't normally be so bad, but I live on the other side of the city. It's quite a long walk from the center back to my place. I was no more than two blocks when something exploded. It was loud enough to cause my ears to hurt and rattle the ground beneath me. My police instincts taking over, I immediately looked for cover and dove behind a nearby trash can while scanning the sky for any smoke. My heart dropped when I found the smoke: It was coming up from the Pokémon Center. I silently swore to myself as I took off back towards the center. Most people were running away from the explosion, I was one of two that ran towards it. The other person appeared to be a trainer as well, so I felt a bit better I wasn't going in alone.

Another explosion blew out the side of the Pokemon Center, scattering debris everywhere and on the two of us.

"Listen kid, what's your name?" I asked him, the both of us still running.

"My name's Gold, from Johto." He said. I grinned a bit and looked back to the center.

"You got guts kid, I'm a police officer here in Kanto. I recommend you get away from here, it's too dangerous." He shook his head.

"You can't go in there alone. I saw several guys go in there earlier. They look shady. You're going to need some assistance." I shrugged and the two of us rounded the corner to see the center in full view. It was madness. Bodies were scattered everywhere, poor bystanders that probably got caught in the explosion. Most of the front had been blown out, as well as pieces of the roof. It was a miracle in itself that the center was still standing.

"Alright, let's do this." I said, releasing Growlithe. The trainer next to me released a Bulbasaur.

"You got that in Johto?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Nope, caught him here, anyway let's go!" He charged towards the center with me trailing behind him.

Once inside, the madness got worse. It appears as if several trainers were inside at the time of the blast, and had attempted to fight off whatever attacked. Trainers and Pokémon alike were scattered everywhere, and most appeared to be just knocked out thankfully, but they weren't my main concern.

"Listen, you check out the downstairs area, I'm going to head to the back to see if the Nurse is back there. Let's hope she's alive and the attackers are still there." He nodded and ran down the broken escalader and I took off to the back area. Growlithe seemed to know exactly what I was going for and he led the way. His memory was better than mine as we made our way to the back recovery chamber where Ralts was located. Unfortunately, the door was closed and locked, but I could hear voices inside.

"…isten lady, just hand over that Ralts and we'll be out of here." a male voice said. It was deep, and it reminded me of the one from the truck last night.

"No! You cannot take this innocent Ralts out of here to do whatever you plan to do!" the nurse shouted. "She does _not_ belong to you and you will not…!" The sound of someone getting smacked came from the room and the nurse shouted in pain.

"I was nice, but not anymore. Wheezing, show this whiney bitch what we do to people like her."

"Wheezing Whee!" My heart dropped as I heard the Nurse get slammed by a Wheezing.

"Growlithe, burn down this damn door, use Flare Blitz!" I shouted. He barked in response and I stood back. He coated his body in fire and charged at the door. The moment the flames came in contact with the door, it melted. His fire was hot enough to melt through the steel door and fly through to the other side. The hole was big enough for me to get into as well as I charged through and into the room. It was not as bad as the rest of the center, but it was still pretty bad. Ralts was still lying on the bed staring wide-eyed at the man that I know recognized as the truck driver from last night and the nurse was pinned to the floor with a Wheezing on top of her.

"Freeze scumbag!" I shouted at him. He turned around and grinned.

"Heh heh, well if it isn't the punk from last night. What the hell are you doing here?" he said laughing. "Gonna stop me from taking back the Ralts? I'd like to see you try to do that." He motioned for Wheezing to come back to him. "Bring it you little punk."

"Growlithe, use Flare Blitz again! Smash into that Wheezing!" I shouted. Growlithe coated himself in fire once more and smashed into the Wheezing. The fire didn't melt its' body, but it left a nasty burn on it.

"Wheezing you slow shit, use Toxic!" he shouted. The Wheezing tried to hit Growlithe with Toxic and failed. Growlithe jumped up and bit the Wheezing and set fire to part of Wheezing's body with his Fire Fang attack. Just as Growlithe was jumping back, Wheezing slammed into his body sending it flying across the room into a wall. I ran over and picked him up and quickly put him back into his ball as the man suddenly charged me. I barely managed to jump out of the way of his fist and ran over to Ralts. She was scared beyond her mind as I picked her up.

"Shh, it's OK. We'll get out of here. There's no need to worry." The sound of a metallic click suddenly told me that turning my back to him wasn't the brightest idea. I slowly turned around to this guy holding a gun, pointing it directly at me.

"Put down Ralts." He said with a mischievous grin. "Go on, put her down." I shook my head.

"Never. You won't have her back." I said. He pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed by my ear. I could even feel the wind rush by. The noise caused Ralts to scream in terror and cower in my arms.

"Now, put her down or you die." Again, I shook my head.

"No, I am not giving her back! If you want her you will have to kill me." He sighed and aimed.

"Well you dumbass, so be it." I watched him pull the trigger. I even saw the bullet fly towards me. I watched the bullet enter into my shoulder, above Ralts' head. I suddenly realized that she was in danger of being shot herself. Despite the pain in my shoulder, I rotated myself around, putting her out of the way. I heard the gun fire once…

Twice…

A third time.

I started to feel very cold. I shuttered and slowly fell to my knees. I began to cough and blood fell out of my mouth, splattering onto Ralts. She looked up in confusion at me and her eyes widened in horror. I must have looked like a mess. I smiled a bit and looked down at her.

"Sorry Ralts…didn't mean to get blood on you." My strength left me as my body collapsed onto the ground. The last thing I remember seeing is the man walking towards me and Ralts screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A/N: Chapter 7 has no title since it is Chapter 6 from Ralts' point of view. Also, whenever Ralts is talking, her text is surrounded in brackets ( [ ] ) and the humans don't really understand but make good assumptions most of the time.

Something was beeping. It was annoying me since I have a headache and it kept pulsing in sync with that accursed beeping. I didn't feel like I used to, which is good since I used to feel like crap, and I felt warm too. This was something I wasn't used to. I hear voices too, two voices, one male and one female. The male voice seemed rather nervous while the female seemed calm and cheerful. I felt something grab my hand. It was probably the hand of that male voice I heard. Perhaps I should see what's going on, so I decided to open my eyes and immediately looked to my left where the hand came from and saw my savior for the first time.

"Hey Ralts, how you doin'?" he asked me. "You feel OK?" His voice was quiet and soft. I instantly liked him.

"[Thanks to you, I'm fine.]" I told him. He smiled and started to scratch me on the head. It was a pleasant feeling and I smiled, allowing myself to relax some more. His hands were soft, just like his voice. Just being near him gave me a sense of profound security that I hadn't felt since I was a hatchling. I closed my eyes again and sighed a little, happy to be safe and with someone who felt safe. I was just about to doze off when the hand moved off of my head. I opened my eyes and frowned, looking for where he went. I saw him getting up and walking out of the room.

"[Hey, where are you going?]" I asked him weakly. He turned around, smiled at me, and walked back a little.

"I have to go for now Ralts, I'll pick you up in an hour, OK?" I sighed and relaxed a little bit. At least he would be back in the future. When he left the room though, the sense of security vanished and I felt exposed, alone, and now scared. I closed my eyes and lay flat on the bed.

"[I wish he were back.]" I whispered. Somehow the female must have heard me.

"Don't worry Ralts, he'll be back soon!" she said cheerfully and scratched me on the head. There was a small ding somewhere and she stopped scratching me.

"Oh, someone is at the counter. I better get up there." I heard her walk off quickly and close the door. I opened my eyes and looked around the room, completely alone and sighed again.

"[I'm alone…there's nobody here but me.]" I said to myself. "[I hope he hurries back.]" An explosion shook the entire building, and my heart began to race again.

"[Wh-what was that?]" I said, slowly getting up. Another blast knocks me off of my feet and back onto the bed as the building shook once more.

"[What's going on?]" I cried out. These noises were scaring me and nobody was here. I got up once more and moved towards the edge of the bed when the door flew open. The lady ran in and quickly shut the door.

"[Hey! What's going on?]" I shouted out. "[What was that loud noise? Where is that man?]" The lady looked over at me and quickly scooped me up and pulled me into a hug.

"Hush Ralts, I need you to be brave and not say anything right now." She whispered. "Can you do that for me?" I pushed back a bit and looked up into her face. Her eyes were full of tears, and she seemed distressed.

"[But what's goin-]" She put a finger on my mouth and quietly shushed me.

"It's OK…just stay quiet." There was a knock on the door.

"Won't you please open this door Nurse Joy?" came a rather sinister sounding voice. "I promise to play a bit nicer this time…" I felt her arms squeeze a bit tighter around me.

"No! Go on and leave the center. You will not get in here!" There was a knock again.

"Come on now, don't make me push the door in…" he said, almost like talking to a small child. His voice made me shutter. The nurse started to stroke my hair.

"It's OK Ralts…it's OK…I've called for help." I looked up at her.

"[Is he coming back?]" I asked. The nurse looked down at me and smiled.

"Someone will come soon, I'm sure of it." She said smiling. There was a loud thud at the door and it bent a little.

"[What on earth is that?]" I asked. There was the sound of something sparking, and the door slowly slid open. My heart froze as I looked at who was standing in the door. I knew he was the man who hurt me, and that was all I needed to freak out.

"[No! He's back for me! Don't let him take me!]" I started screaming. The nurse put me on the bed and turned to face the man, blocking his view of me.

"Why are you here?" she shouted. "What do you want with this Ralts so badly that you're willing to attack a Pokémon Center?" He shook his head.

"Listen lady just hand over that Ralts and we'll be out of here." He said closing and locking the door behind him. I grabbed onto the nurses outfit on her back and held on. She was the closest thing to comfort I had, and she was trying to protect me.

"[What's going on nurse…?]" I asked her. There was no response. The big man said something and I heard a response from a Pokémon:

"[You got it sir.]" It was rough sounding, almost like that of a smoker. Suddenly the nurse went flying and slammed against the wall.

"[Nurse!]" I cried out. I was about to jump off the bed and go see her when something shot through the door, leaving a blazing trail across the floor. Startled, I looked at the door to see who else could possibly come through when I saw my rescuer come through the door. My heart skipped a beat as his presence seemingly filled the room. Just the fact that he was here now was a relief to me. I must have zoned out completely since I heard nothing of the battle they had. The next thing I remember is him scooping me up and holding me close. What snapped me back was a loud blasting noise inside the room. It went off 3 times in a row, and something fell on my head. I looked up and saw him, looking down at me, smiling as something red was leaking from his mouth. My eyes widened in shock as I looked at him.

"[Wha-…what happened?]" I asked quickly.

"Sorry Ralts…didn't mean to get blood on you." My heart dropped as he pulled me close to his body and fell to the ground.

"[Oh my God! Oh my God! Wake up! Wake up! He's coming towards us!]" I started shouting. The way he fell, his body was like a blanket over me, giving me little room to move, but I heard his footsteps. I heard those awful footsteps get closer and closer.

"Heh heh, I gave that punk a chance to live and he now, well, let's say he's in a better place." There was some shuffling and his body was lifted off of me. Now in my face was the man who abused me.

"[NO! Get away from me!]" I screamed, backing away. He laughed and took a hold of my hair, pulling me into the air. It hurt, oh god it hurt to be lifted like that. Tears were rolling down my face as he threw me across the room. I felt the impact of the wall and slid down to the floor. I was worthless, just like when my parents were fighting to save me…I was helpless. I couldn't save them, and now I can't save myself or my savior. I curled into a small ball and began to cry, wishing for a miracle to happen. I was cut short as the man grabbed me by my hair again and lifted me up.

"Well now you little toy, you've had your freedom, now you're coming back with me, you hear that?" He started laughing hysterically. "I don't let my toys get away from me!" I looked over at my savior on the ground, lying there and bleeding everywhere, then back to the crazed maniac holding me up by my hair. The pain it caused was nothing compared to how angry I suddenly was. My fists closed and I felt a trace of power in me.

"[You…you…how dare you!]" I shouted. I'm not quite sure what happened next, but he dropped me and began running his hands along his head.

"What…what are you doing to me!" he shouted. "No! Stop it! Stop it! It hurts!" There was a presence inside my mind that felt vulgar and disgusting. For whatever reason, I assumed it was his, so I squeezed it. I punched it, kicked it, and attacked it any way I thought I could. Each hit made him scream out in pain. I was no longer defenseless!

"[This is for my mother!]" I shouted, punching a hole into the presence. He doubled over and fell to his knees.

"[My father!]" I screamed again, as I kicked part of his presence in. His arms fell limp as he stared at me, blood now running out of his eyes, ears, and mouth.

"[And this is for hurting the one who saved my life!]" The final blow literally caused his presence to explode. He looked up at me and waivered a bit before collapsing to the ground, not moving. I stood there, in the air, panting after what I had done.

"[I did it…I stopped him.]" I whispered. I lowered myself to the floor and ran over to where my savior was. He was bleeding out, and I couldn't help him now. I knelt by his side and started to cry into his shoulder.

"[But…but I was too late to save you…]" I said through my tears. "[I never even learned your name…]" My anger was being replaced with guilt over my failure, failure to defend the one who saved me. I closed my eyes and let the guilt take over, consuming my body with power. I took a deep breath and plunged into it head first. The moment I entered the pool however, my body began to change and I had no choice but to accept what it did to me now.

…

It wasn't long until I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the change in environment. I was lying in a bed, but it was in a different place. I sat up and took a look around. It definitely wasn't the Pokémon Center I was just at...wait, where am I, and more importantly, where was he?

"[Hello?]" I called out. Someone's head popped around the corner and smiled at me.

"Hey Doc! That Kirlia that came in with Captain Alex and Nurse Joy is awake!"

_Wait, Kirlia?_ I looked down at myself and was startled to see myself as a Kirlia. Not only that…but I felt a mental tug in my mind. It was as if I knew where he was at. While I was zoning out, a man in a white jacket approached me and smiled.

"Hello there Kirlia, do you know where you are?" It took me a few seconds to realize he was talking to me before I nodded slowly. The doctor smiled and stood up.

"You had us worried for a bit, but it appears you're OK." The doctor said, grabbing a clipboard. "Although your evolution is a bit early, and that's very rare, nearly unheard of. You're just full of surprises, coming in here with your blue hair." He shrugged and started to walk away.

"[Hey, wait a second.]" I called out after him. The doctor turned around and smiled.

"What is it Kirlia?" he asked.

"[Where…where are the others? I want to see them.]" The doctor nodded and motioned for me to follow him. With nothing better to do, I got up and walked towards him. He held out his hand and I tentatively grabbed it. He seemed to notice the hesitation and got down on his knees.

"Did something happen to you when you were younger? You are hesitant towards humans. Even subconsciously you were hard to get under control. Is there something you want to tell me?" I looked into his eyes and turned away and shook my head. I wanted to tell him, I wanted to tell him all that has happened and what my savior did for me…I don't even know his name yet! I sighed and shook my head again. There was no point in saying anything to anyone but the one who original saved me.

"Ok then, let's keep going." He stood back up, still holding my hand, and guiding me through the hospital. It wasn't a long walk at least before we entered a room where two people were lying down in beds. One was the nurse; the other was the man who saved my life. The moment I saw him, I cried out a little bit, let go of the doctors' hand and ran towards his bed. He looked terrible, but he was breathing. His hand lay motionless by his side. I was just tall enough to reach up and grab his hand and hold it.

"[You gotta pull through…]" I said quietly. "[Come on. Don't wimp out on me now. You were just about to adopt me and everything.]" A hand suddenly touched my shoulder and I visibly flinched before whirling around, arms at the ready. I sighed when I noticed it was the doctor.

"Holy cow…be careful Kirlia. Your powers aren't fully developed yet and you could seriously hurt someone." I nodded a bit and turned back around.

"Do you know his name?" I shook my head as I stood there for a bit. The doctor carefully picked me up and pulled a chair up next to the bed and set me in it. I looked up and smiled at him in thanks and he returned the smile before petting me.

"His name is Alex."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Arguing with myself

I never realized how much pain I'd be in after getting shot 4 times, nor did the thought occur to me as I turned around to take the bullets for Ralts. But holy fuck that hurt. I opened my eyes and was stunned when I was surrounded by almost total darkness. The only source of light was a small tunnel looking gap that went off into the distance somewhere. I was curious as to where it went and started walking alongside the now clearly visible outline of the tunnel until…I found that I couldn't go any further. It was like an invisible wall prevented me from going further. I tried to push a little and eventually gave up. I returned to the entrance of the tunnel and looked into it and was quite shocked at what I saw.

I saw myself lying on the ground, but the perspective seemed off. Boy, did I look bad. I chuckled to myself and continued watching this rather…interesting play of images. Suddenly the view shifted and I saw the truck driver walking towards my body. Then...the view was thrown through the air?

"What the hell is this?" I asked nobody in particular.

"They are memories belonging to someone else." A voice behind me said. I turned around, hands at the ready and saw…myself, but he looked different, slightly darker skin color than me. His eyes were blood red too, and he wore a sinister expression.

"Memories of a companion you found recently. Memories of someone who cares deeply for you." He continued, walking around. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, don't you?" I glared at him.

"Who the hell are you?" I yelled at him. "And where the hell am I?" He started laughing.

"Hahaha, seriously? You have no idea? Hahaha, that's priceless!" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "We are in your mind, and I am the other side of you."

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" He was starting to creep me out a little and annoy me. With a flick of his hand the environment changed to a brighter color.

"I am the dark side of you. I am the side that you resist every day, the side that wanted you to abandon that Ralts and leave her be to her own demise, the evil side of you!" His voice got louder with every passing word. "I am your opposite half that everyone has inside of them!" I shuddered and took a step back.

"So now I'm trapped in here?" I asked, looking around. "Inside my own mind with no control over the very environment?" He smiled sadistically and nodded.

"There's one way out." He said, turning around. "You could allow me to be freed from this prison inside your mind." I shook my head.

"Never, you stay right where you belong. I've kept you suppressed for a long time now, and you will stay here." I said defiantly. "I won't let you escape!" He turned around to face me, and laughed.

"Then it appears as if you're stuck inside your own mind." He started to walk around as if surveying the place.

"You know, I may have been trapped in your mind for the longest time, but I never once actually have been in this region. It's the closest to the conscious part of your mind." He said, pointing to his own head. "Pity I am only here when you're unconscious or nearly dead." I gulped.

"I'm going to die?" He laughed and shook his head.

"No, that little friend of yours saved your life." He said with a bored expression. "It was gruesome; I watched the entire thing from that tunnel gap." He pointed towards the tunnel as a series of images were now flashing around. I walked towards it and slowly extended my right hand towards it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said with a smile. "I tried the same thing and got a lovely shock.

"Well I'm not you." I whispered. My hand came in contact with the tunnel. I expected a resistance but instead, my hand went through the entrance. It felt warm and pleasant, despite the erratic flashing of images. The 'other' me sort of dropped the cocky attitude and started to approach the tunnel.

"Come on, pull your hand out." He grabbed a hold of me and my right hand jetted out of the tunnel, smashing into his face and sending him skidding across the 'floor'.

"Don't touch me." I said. But the source didn't feel like me. It felt far away and distant and full of power. I felt myself lose a bit of control as I slowly walked towards the dark me who looked a bit terrified now.

"Hey, back off man. You can't hurt me, I am you!" he said, getting up and walking backwards as I approached him. "You're nothing without me! You'll fall into an endless limbo without me!" At this point he stopped walking and I came face to face with him. I looked down at my fist then back to his face.

"I don't need you anymore." I said, my turn to smile.

"Your mind will crumble without a balance! If you kill me you kill yourself." He said, holding his ground. I sighed and looked down again.

"I'll manage." My fist connected with his throat, sending him flying back again. The very color of the room seemed to waiver a bit before returning back to solid white as the dark me skidded across the ground now grasping at his throat. At this point I took back full control of myself, whatever presence was now gone.

"Now do you understand?" I asked him walking up to his body. As I approached him, I felt a sudden urge to just kill him right there, an impulsive thought. I'm not sure why I felt it, but something told me that this dark side of me needed to die here and now. He must have felt the thought too as his eyes widened in fear as his mouth opened as if to say something. No words came through as he struggled to breathe.

"I shall kill you now. Whatever happens after that point is up to fate." I put a foot on his chest and closed my eyes taking a deep breath. When I opened my eyes, the color of the void was starting to flicker slowly from white to black.

"Goodbye." I slowly increased the pressure that my foot was placing on his chest as the dark side of me began to writhe in pain underneath my foot. The void began to rapidly flash colors now, going from black to white still as my dark side slowly stopped moving. There was a loud crack as my foot went inside his chest somewhat and the void around me stopped flashing. I removed my foot and walked back to the tunnel when the void began to swirl around. The 'floor' I stood on began to ripple somewhat and crack beneath my feet.

"Looks like fate had other plans for me." I whispered. The floor gave way beneath my feet and I plunged down into an endless void.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Gift from the Gods

=Alex's POV=

I fell for what seemed like hours, just freefalling through nothing but a dark void. I started to have doubts as to what would really happen, or if I'd even stop. It seemed as if the darkness never stopped and that killing the dark side of me unleashed all of this. I closed my eyes and started to count, when I could see a change in the lighting through my eyelids. I opened up and found myself surrounded in a white void instead. I looked up and saw the black void slowly start shrinking into a small ball before completely disappearing.

"…I must say…that was new." I said out loud. I turned back around and felt myself slowing down somewhat until I suddenly came to a halt. My feet hit something solid and I could suddenly walk on my own again. With nothing more to do I chose a random direction and started walking off.

=Kirlia's POV=

Three days have passed since the incident. Three long terrible days that I've sat here feeling helpless at what I can do. I tried to reach into his mind by creating a tunnel between us, but I found only darkness and chaos waiting inside. The fear of it drove me back to my own mind as I waited for him to wake up. Doctors came back and forth looking over these things they called 'charts'. Looked like a bunch of silly lines to me but whatever they were showing was making the doctors nervous. They didn't outwardly show it, but as a Kirlia now, I can slowly found out I had the ability to sense them and their feelings and the occasional thought. Alex stirred a bit on the bed and I redirected my attention back to him almost immediately.

"[Can you hear me Alex?]" I asked him. "[Wake up; please…I want to talk to you.]" A doctor must've noticed the movement and rushed over, grabbing another 'chart' thing with different lines and ran off shouting about something. I managed to feel a mix of emotions from him; the most prominent one was fear, which caused me to be very worried. I looked around to see if anyone was approaching, but the room was totally empty. I closed my eyes and started to relax, entering my own mind. I found myself standing in front of the tunnel that I had created a few days ago, surrounded by the light blue color of my mind. Peering inside, I found that there was no darkness anymore; in fact…it was quite bright. The warmth of the light was pleasant. I felt compelled to travel in the tunnel at this point. Something held me back though, something was telling me to wait and return to my conscious self. I sighed and walked away, the color of my mind slowly fading to a deeper blue as I began to worry about Alex.

=Alex's POV=

I felt like I was walking down memory lane, a pure white memory lane. My past memories I had were passing by me as if they were on a television monitor. I tried to place my hand on them but the memories just scattered only to reform the moment I removed my hand from their immediate area. I sighed and continued to walk around.

"I wonder if this is the white light at the end of the tunnel people talk about and my life is supposed to flash before my eyes." I said out loud. "If this is it, then this is pretty shitty."

"That's a pretty terrible thing to say." A feminine voice said behind him. Alex whirled around and found himself looking at a Gardevoir. She was smiling at him and walking closer to him.

"Uh…who are you and how did you get in my mind?" I asked her.

"I have been sent by a Great One to grant you a gift you will need for the future." She said. "You are of great importance to us, and your future survival depends on it." She stopped about a yard in front of me and held her arms out.

"I'm…what? I don't understand any of this." I said, scratching my head. "What is this gift, who is this Great One, and why did they send you?" She put her hands down and laughed. Her very laugh put me at ease; it was care free and joyful, almost like that of a child's laugh.

"You will find out soon enough." She said giggling. "Come here now." I shrugged and slowly walked towards her. I was less than a foot away when she hopped forward and kissed me on the lips. Two things happened at the same time: I blushed and the white void turned a slight pink. She held on to the kiss for quite a bit before breaking off and taking a deep breath.

"Ahh, my job is done." She said and started to walk away.

"Wait…what the hell? I'm still confused!" She looked over her shoulder back at me.

"Don't fret, I'll return when I'm able to and answer some of your questions, just be careful with what you've been given!" With that she smiled once more and disappeared. I stood there for a moment as the pinkish void slowly faded back to pure white.

"Man, what the hell was that all about?" I asked to myself. "I really need to get out of here though…I wonder how long I've been out anyway." I turned around and started walking into the void again when I saw the tunnel again, and right next to it, a doorway with a sign overhead. I took off running for the door and got close enough to read the sign.

"…Reality? What the hell kind of sign is that?" I looked between the door and the tunnel before walking towards the doorway. I slowly stepped into it, hoping that it would lead me back to where I was supposed to be.

=Kirlia's POV=

A loud noise woke me up. I was asleep on the chair near Alex's bed and when I looked up, I saw him surrounded by doctors who were yammering away. I yawned and got out of the chair walking over.

"[What's going on?]" I asked. They all jumped and looked back at me. A few of them smiled at me and turned back while one in particular leaned over and ran his fingers through my hair. It felt nice; I liked the feeling and smiled at him. He held out his hand which I took a hold of and carefully guided me away from the doctors.

"Hey Kirlia, I'm sure you're a bit confused as to what's going on." I nodded, knowing he couldn't understand me if I spoke.

"Your master just woke up and is moving around a bit." I started smiling and hugged him. This doctor gave me the happiest news I could've possibly heard.

"[Really? That's so exciting! Can I see him? Can I talk to him? When will he be out?]" I asked him. The doctor held up a hand.

"I don't have any answers for you; I'm assuming you're asking questions. But you can see him now if you want to. I'll get the doctors to leave him alone so you two can…erm…communicate I suppose." He said, scratching his head. "I'm not sure how you two will communicate, but I think you'll find a way." I nodded and hugged him once more, my happiness barely able to be contained. My rescuer was alive and well, and the doctor called him my Master! I could not be any happier right now! Even the small tunnel inside my mind had grown wider and now cast out a bright white light when I looked inside of it. The doctor took me back to the table and quickly scattered the other doctors before picking me up and placing me on the bed next to Alex. I smiled happily as I saw him awake and moving.

"Hey there Kirlia." He said with a smile.

"[Hello there Master!]" I replied happily. He ran his fingers through my hair slowly, scratching me behind the ears even. I purred slightly at how good it felt, how comforting his hand was.

"Have they treated you OK?" He asked. I nodded before lying my head down on his chest. It was warm and strong feeling, a feeling I hadn't felt for quite some time. The white tunnel in my head started to pulse now, demanding my attention. I closed my eyes and focused on the tunnel before reaching out with a hand and allowing the tunnel to pull me through to the other side.

=Alex's Mind & POV=

I felt my grip on reality slowly fade away after Kirlia set her head on my chest. The feeling of warmth and happiness seemed to radiate out from her, as if she were literally glowing. Unfortunately, I felt my conscious slip and I plunged back into the depths of my own mind where I found myself back in the white void room. It was pulsating slightly as I started to walk around again, exploring the room in its entirety. Again though, I found the same tunnel from earlier, although it was giving off a peaceful purplish hue that drew me towards it. I'm not sure why it was doing that, but it didn't matter to me. I began to walk towards it when the tunnel started to pulse somewhat. Right before my eyes, I saw a Kirlia step out of the tunnel. Not just any Kirlia though, a blue-haired Kirlia, the one I had saved.

"K-Kirlia?" I called out. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi Alex." She said. Her voice was a new sensation to me, hearing her speak in English. The sound left me temporarily stunned, unable to move.

"You…you can talk." I said. She nodded and walked towards me.

"This is your mind I'm assuming…" she said, hesitating slightly. "I'm not sure why there's a tunnel between our minds…as you haven't trained me any, but there is one. I'm sorry for walking in like this though." She said, hanging her head as if ashamed. It was sad and adorable at the same time. I quickly ran over and picked her up pulling her into a hug.

"It's OK, I'm just glad you're OK." I said happily. She nodded and started to cry a little.

"Because….because of me, you were hurt though." She said, the tears now flowing a bit. "I'm so sorry Alex that I got you hurt." I held her out in front of me a bit and smiled.

"In honesty, my job guarantees I might get hurt." I said. "So saving you was a plus." She stopped crying and looked at me for a bit before I pulled her back into a hug and held her there.

"Thanks Alex, I don't know what would happen if you hadn't pulled me out of that truck." She said quietly. I ran my fingers through her hair again and felt a warm feeling rush through my body.

"Are we sharing emotions and feelings too?" I asked her. She giggled a little bit.

"Yeah, can't do much about that…I'm guessing it has to do with a trainer bond that shouldn't exist yet…but there it is." I set her down and took a seat myself.

"So…how long are we in here?" I asked.

"Well, you need sleep anyway. From what the doctors can tell, I fell asleep with my head on your chest and you just fell asleep too. They wouldn't have a clue what's going on right now." She said. "I'm assuming we can also talk through the link without visiting each other's minds like this, but we'll have to experiment with it." I nodded and decided to lie on my back. She slowly moved over towards me and snuggled up to me on my left side, and I wrapped my arm around her. It gave me another warm feeling in my stomach as the two of us lay there with nothing around us but a lightly blue tinted white void.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Shared reality

Author notes:  
The mind speak will be in { }'s, and PokéTalk is in [ ]'s.

After our nap, the doctors returned and started asking a bunch of questions. Kirlia didn't like most of the doctors, but she did trust them enough to get me better. She was quite protective of me and yet we hardly know each other.

"{There's no need for much Master.}" A quiet voice in my head said startling me out of my thought process. "{You saved my life and I saved yours, which is not something that leaves the involved parties unaffected.}"

"{I know that…}" I struggled to say, still not completely used to the mind speaking. "{I just suppose I can't help but wonder why this bond is here so suddenly and why you're suddenly a Kirlia when I last saw you as a Ralts.}" The two of us were still lying in the bed as the doctors were jabbering about and looking over me still. I wanted nothing more to just tell them to go away and let me be since I really didn't want to be poked by more needles, but there was nothing I could do unfortunately but talk with Kirlia over the mind link…my Kirlia. The thought alone brought a feeling of happiness to me, the Kirlia I rescued from a possible life of horrible abuse and who knows what else.

"{Let's not think about that Master.}" Kirlia said, jumping off of the bed. I was about to ask her where she was off to, but she sent a mental 'shh' back at me before hopping onto an empty bed next to us, grabbing a pillow, and coming back over. She smiled and hopped back up, placing the pillow on my side before burrowing herself into it.

"{Ahh, that's better.}" She said sighing contently. I laughed a bit and placed my hand on her head and rubbed it a little bit. The doctors around us eventually quieted down as they noticed Kirlia had fallen asleep. One of the doctors moved closer to me and pointed towards Kirlia.

"She might need to move soon." He said. "We're going to be changing the sheets on your bed so you'll have to slide to the next one until we get done. Hospital policy, sorry." I nodded and started looking through my mind, searching for the tunnel that we use for communication. After a few seconds, I found it.

"{Hey, Kirlia?}" I whispered into it. There was a small pause before she responded.

"{Hmmm…?}"

"{Doctor says we gotta move so they can change the sheets.}" Her body stirred as she opened her eyes and slowly sat up. I scratched her behind the ears a little as she stretched a bit and smiled at me. I looked back up at the doctor and nodded. He pointed to the bed next to us, the one that Kirlia took a pillow off of, and we slowly moved ourselves over there. Kirlia was able to easily hop off of our current bed and onto the other one, but my legs refused to cooperate. The moment they touched the ground, my legs wobbled as if they had never been used before, and my balance was off even more. Kirlia took pleasure in giggling at me as I stumbled around until one of the doctors fixing my bed managed to prop me up and slowly walk me over to the bed.

"Thanks doc." I said. The doctor just nodded and went back working on my bed as I slowly sat myself down on the bed. Kirlia slid over somewhat and rested her head on my shoulder and I lifted my arm up, which slid her head into my side, and slowly pet her head. A feeling of content slowly seeped over the connection we shared and I smiled, happy that she was feeling safe.

"{I suppose we'll be leaving soon?}" Kirlia asked. I nodded.

"{Yeah, I hope by afternoon. I still wonder where the hell Tom and Gold are though…}" She looked up at me.

"{Tom was by earlier, checking in. He said he'll be waiting in the lobby all day until you're out…I'm assuming Gold was another trainer? A trainer did drop by but didn't say much…I couldn't read his feelings at all either.}" She sighed and put her head on my lap. "{Oh well…not much I can do about it now.}" I smiled a bit and closed my eyes, leaning back a bit wondering how Growlithe and the others were. Wait, where were they exactly? I opened my eyes and looked around for them, hoping to see a couple of Pokéballs lying around somewhere but didn't see any. Kirlia caught on to my panic and mentally hugged me.

"{It's OK, Tom has them.}" She said. "{He told me shortly before you woke up.}" I relaxed a little bit and closed my eyes again allowing my mind to relax. It didn't take long for my heart rate to slow down to normal and before long; I was dozing slightly when something startled me. I could feel the doctors in the room. Not very well defined, but, I knew that we weren't alone and I could feel what they were doing to some degree.

"{I'm not sure if you're feeling them through me or not…}" Kirlia said, startling me out of my investigative trance. "{But the fact you can feel them period is…unusual to say the least.}"

"{Tell me about it…it's rather crazy. I can't tell much about them other than that they're here and that's it.}" I replied. I retreated to my mind and materialized myself in front of the tunnel between our minds. The void around me was bright white still, with the tunnel slowly fading out of view in the distance. However, there were several orbs floating around inside the white void out in the distance. Intrigued by them, I slowly walked towards them half expecting to run into another barrier that prevented me from doing so, but there was none this time. Instead he stopped right before the orb and looked at it. To his surprise, it moved around a bit, as if doing a task.

"{That's one of the doctors}" Kirlia said, appearing next to him. He looked down at her and back at the sphere.

"{This is a bit freaky, that's his mind?}" She nodded and placed a hand on it.

"{It's warm and comforting, and feminine. This is the mind of a female doctor who's very warm and caring…}" she said before removing her hand. "{I'm better at picking up feelings and emotions right now I guess, I wasn't able to glean any clear thoughts…}" The sphere started to move towards the tunnel.

"{Ah, she must be coming towards us; perhaps it's time to return to our bodies.}" I nodded and closed my eyes, allowing my consciousness to drift back to my body. I awoke with a start and slowly sat up as I saw a nurse approach us smiling.

"Your bed is ready. The doctors also said you'll be clear to go home in a few minutes while we prepare your paperwork and get your friend to sign you out." I nodded and slowly got back to my feet, my legs not as wobbly this time and slowly made my way over to the bed, Kirlia following behind me. I had just sat down on the bed when Tom came around the corner holding a couple of Pokéballs and some clothes in his hands.

"About time you got your ass up!" he said smiling, tossing the Pokéballs and clothes at me. I grabbed the clothes out of the air and let the Pokéballs land in my lap.

"What do you mean about time? I didn't see you getting shot!" I said sticking my tongue out. Tom sat on the bed I just got up from and smirked.

"Bah, you had to pull an almighty hero act and not wait for back up." He replied. "I was literally three minutes away from the center when it exploded." I shrugged and got up again, setting the Pokéballs on the bed, my legs still wobbly, and walked towards the hallway.

"Where you goin?" he asked. I pointed out in the hallway.

"To find a restroom so I can change." I said. Kirlia hopped back off the bed and started walking towards me when Tom held out a hand blocking her path.

"I don't think you should go where he's going, that's the guys restroom." She looked up at me with a sad expression on her face.

"[Awww…]" she said, looking down at her feet. Tom looked back up at me, not really sure what to do.

"Hey man, you're the one that told her no. Now you have to look at that sad face and deal with it." He flicked me off as I walked down the hall laughing at him.

"{I'll be back soon anyway.}" I said over the link to her.

"{Ok…}" she whispered in reply. I could feel her sadness over the link, and I almost turned around to get her anyway. But I don't think people would like having a female Pokémon in the guy's restroom. Regardless, I wandered the halls for a few minutes, crossing into my mind occasionally to see how many people were nearby. There were hundreds of spheres each with varying degrees of brightness and colors. I was tempted to just lean against a wall or sit down in a chair and explore the vast number of spheres in my mind that moved as I walked through the halls, but I wanted to get back soon to Kirlia and Tom so we could get out. I glanced at the tunnel and was surprised to see it slightly constricted, smaller than before.

"{It must get smaller the farther apart we are…}" I said to nobody in particular, figuring that Kirlia couldn't hear me. I was right as there was no response. I sighed and continued to walk; suddenly missing the companionship she had in my mind, and found the restroom. I walked in to see it completely empty, no spheres inside the room. I smiled at the knowledge I was alone in here, wondering how often I had thought if anyone else was in here. I walked down to the last and largest stall and closed the door, locking it. I pulled off the hospital gown I had on and slipped into the change of clothes that Tom had brought me. Surprisingly, they were some of my own clothes. I made a mental note to ask him exactly how he got a hold of these after we got out of the hospital.

It didn't take much longer to finish changing and I made my way out of the bathroom. Several orbs were floating around now in the hallway, clustered together around a small orb that was barely glowing. Slightly alarmed I ran out into the hallway and saw several doctors running around a cart that held a rather bloody girl, a large gash across her chest. The doctors were shouting out different things as they came barreling down the hallway, forcing me back into the restroom to avoid running into them. As they rounded the hallway, two things happened simultaneously: The orb went dark inside my mind and the heart rate monitor flat-lined. I felt my heart drop into my stomach as the doctors frantically hustled about, trying to save the girl. I shook my head, getting the feeling of being hopelessly cold out of my mind. Her orb was now a dark sphere in my mind and the cold feeling slowly disappeared as I got farther away.

It didn't take long until I was back in the section of the hospital where Kirlia and Tom were located. I could feel the tunnel loosen some and feel her happiness flood over the connection. I rounded the corner and Kirlia was waiting on the bed, looking right at me and smiling. Tom turned around and stood up.

"Yep, she seemed to know you were nearby since she suddenly perked up and turned around." He said, walking towards me. I smiled and got on my knees, holding out a hand to Kirlia. She hopped off the bed and grabbed my hand. I carefully picked her up and pulled her into a hug and started walking to the hallway.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" I said, glancing back at Tom. He nodded and the two of us, Kirlia in my arms, walked out of the hospital.

"Oh by the way, how the hell did you get in my house?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It didn't take long for us to get home; Tom had brought his car since mine was currently missing. Once inside, I walked to my room, Kirlia following behind, and promptly fell onto my bed.

"Oh man…it feels so good to be home." I said, my voice slightly muffled from my face being buried in the sheets. Kirlia was wandering around a bit, looking at few things that were in my room. I decided to let her wander around to satisfy her curiosity and took a trip into my mind. I was quite shocked when I landed in the white zone of my mind to see 7 little orbs floating around rather close to me. Wherever I walked, the six closest orbs followed me, staying very close to me, while the 7th one, I assume was Kirlia, was wandering around a bit, occasionally flashing green before returning to sky blue. I walked over and gently touched the sky blue orb. The moment my hand came into contact with it, I felt a calm sensation rush over me, a bit of curiosity, and a slight sense of adoration. Whether or not she noticed that I touched her mind, I don't know, but I was returning my focus to the 6 orbs around me. They were all a different shade of blue, and as I came into contact with each one, I was able to identify them for who they were. The brightest sphere of them all was my Growlithe, and he was in a content mood while the five others were more or less satisfied. I figured that tomorrow I'd give all but Growlithe and Kirlia back to Tom so he could return them to the station. After all, I probably was going to be going into hiding soon, if not later today.

I felt something poke me mentally. It jarred me out of my concentration and I returned fully to my mind and looked around. The 'sphere-map', so to speak, was laid out in front of me and Kirlia's sphere was right next to me. The tunnel soon lit up and Kirlia walked through smiling.

"{Hello there Master!}" She said.

"Hello there Kirlia." I returned to the map, wondering how it all worked. The white void faded slightly to a hint of green before returning to white.

"What does my sphere look like from your perspective?" I asked her. She closed her eyes and thought for a second, her own sphere changing to a deep blue.

"{It's big, and there's a small sphere circling it. It doesn't make much sense really…but nothing seems to be wrong.}" she opened her eyes again and smiled causing me to smile. I sat down and she laid her head down in my lap. My hands idly wandered to her head and gently stroked her hair as I looked around at the void which was slowly fading to a dark blue. My own thoughts were starting to wander about, slowly becoming disorganized as I continued to run my fingers through Kirlia, who was now sleeping in my lap, giving off a happy satisfied feeling.

"I guess this is peace with one's self…" I said, chuckling a little. "Chilling inside my mind with the Pokémon I…" I bit my tongue, realizing what I was about to say. I shook my head for a bit, clearing the thought from my mind and failed miserably. Kirlia stirred a bit in my lap, my hand having stopped running through her hair, and woke up. She yawned a bit and sat up; looking around at the now pinkish hue the void had taken.

"{Master…what's going on?}" I shook my head, the void changing back to white rather quickly.

"N-nothing!" I said quickly. She looked suspiciously up at me and I could feel her mind slowly try to probe me.

"Hey now, come on." I said, mentally pushing her probe back. "No picking at my thoughts." I stuck my tongue out at her and stood up, walking around my mind a bit and soon hit a wall. I suppose this was as far out as my mental range could do and sat at the edge, thinking for a bit. The color changed from white to green and Kirlia wandered around a bit, looking at all the various spheres that were around me.

"{Those are the other Pokémon right?}" She asked, pointing at them. I nodded and placed my hand on one.

"Yep, these are them…" My attention was drawn away as a sphere, this one a bright blue color was approaching the center of the room, in other words, where my body was. I looked at Kirlia and she looked back at me. It took a second for her body to fade out and for me to return to my body. I came to in my room, still on my bed. Kirlia was next to me, with my hand in her hair. She blushed a bit and turned away as I removed my hand from her hair.

"Uhm…I didn't realize I was doing it here either…sorry." I blushed and got up, walking towards the door.

"{No no, it's OK.}" She said, hopping off the bed. "{It felt good, thank you.}" She smiled and hugged my legs. "{So don't be embarrassed.}" I leaned over and scratched her head again before walking out of the room, Kirlia following behind me. A quick check of the sphere-map placed the sphere a few feet in front of my door and I decided to actually make contact with it. The moment I touched it, I was overwhelmed with the sense of urgency and duty to protect someone. I dug a little bit until I found the owner's name. I sighed when I realized it was Tom. Before he could knock I opened up the door, causing him to jump.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the Hell out of me." He said, walking in. "And you shouldn't just randomly open the door. There could be men out there trying to kill you." He looked down and noticed Kirlia next to me, holding on to my legs.

"Do you mind not scaring her? It's enough that she's seen me got shot and killed a person already. Not to mention her childhood that I haven't talked with her about to see what happened before I rescued her from that hell place." I sat down in one of the chairs in my family room and Kirlia hopped in my lap, burrowing slightly into my chest. Tom sighed and nodded.

"Ok, sorry. But we need to move. There's talk running in the organization about you, bad stuff. Giovanni issued an order to bring you back in alive." He paced back and forth running his hands through his hair. "I'm at big risk right now. They could have a tail on me since I brought you into the organization. We need to pull you out of the region tonight."

"Tonight?" I looked down at Kirlia who cowered a bit.

"{I don't want to move…I feel safe here.}" She said.

"{We might not be tomorrow…his concern is valid. We need to go where it is safer.}" She sighed and looked up at me, her golden eyes watering up. I bent over and kissed her on the forehead before looking back up to Tom.

"Alright, let's get going." Tom nodded and walked to the door.

"Grab some clothes and pack what necessities you need. You probably won't come back here again." I sighed and looked around.

"OK, I'll join you soon out there." I said. He nodded and walked outside. I checked the sphere-map and watched his sphere float away. I stayed in there, watching the area turn a dark purple as sorrow washed over me. I curled into a small ball and sat there for a few before returning to my body. Kirlia was looking at me, concern written all over her face.

"{Master?}" She asked, placing a hand on mine. "{Are you…OK?}" I nodded and pulled her into a hug.

"I've been better Kirlia, but it's time that we go." I stood up, holding her in my arms, and went back into my room. I set her down on the bed and walked over to my closet, throwing the doors open. I searched around for my suitcase and found it buried beneath some useless junk of mine, including old magazines and dirty clothes that never got washed. I set it on the bed and opened it up and was shocked to find some essentials already packed inside it, such as several pairs of clothes, shoes and toiletries. Lying on top of this entire little stack was a hand gun with several clips of ammunition in other parts of the bag.

"It would appear as if I've prepared for something at another time…" I said, zipping the suitcase up. Kirlia walked over to the suitcase and looked up at me, our eyes connecting. I felt my heart jump a beat as I looked into her golden eyes, suddenly feeling drawn to them. I slowly closed my eyes and found myself inside the now pink void inside my head. Kirlia was standing in front of me, just staring.

"{Master…}" she whispered. I didn't give her a chance to finish before I had picked her up and pulled her into a hug.

"{How long…?}" She asked. Her words stopped as the void faded to a deeper shade of pink.

The sphere map suddenly popped in front of me, interrupting our conversation, with a sphere racing towards us. It was bright blue with hints of red inside it. It stopped just as fast as it began moving and in the distance, I heard someone banging on what sounded like a door. I glanced over at Kirlia before closing my eyes again and opening back to the real world. Kirlia's hand was on my face, slowly moving closer. I blinked a little bit before the knocking resumed.

"COME ON, LET'S GO!" Tom shouted. "WE NEED TO MOVE!" I shook my head and finished zipping up the suitcase. I threw it over my shoulder and picked up Kirlia, holding her close to my chest.

"{I…master?}" she asked.

"{Yes?}"

"{…thanks for stopping me.}" It took me a second to realize what she meant, and then it hit me.

"{No problem.}" I pushed open the front door to see an impatient Tom tapping his foot.

"About fucking time sweetheart, let's go." He popped the trunk of his car and I threw my suitcase in, slamming the door shut before hopping in the front seat and securing Kirlia and myself with the seatbelt.

"Where are we off to?" I asked Tom as he put the car into gear.

"There's a place in the distant Sinnoh Region that the police force has agreed to set aside for you to construct a new residence there." He explained as the car pulled out of the driveway. "You will live there probably for the rest of your lives or until the order is reversed."

"Any specific town name that you want to give me, or are you gonna leave me guessing?" He threw the car into drive and slammed on the accelerator, shooting us down the road.

"It's called Floaroma Town." He said. The town sounded vaguely familiar, but I wasn't acquainted with the Sinnoh Region very well. I looked down at Kirlia who had burrowed into my chest again and then back to Tom.

"She really likes you, doesn't she?" He said quietly. "That's good, she trusts you…as long as you don't betray that trust, she'll stay loyal to you forever." Tom pressed a button and the sirens on the car went on as we pulled on to the Interstate.

"So, how long till we get there?" I asked. "I'd like to get somewhat settled since it has been nothing but the three of us rushing around."

"It won't take terribly long. The newly built Interstate system should get us there within an hour. The house is ready and fully furnished for you, but lacks clothes for you. I know you brought some essentials, but you should stop by their little market they have." Several cars veered out of the way as Tom floored the car, sending us flying down the highway. I closed my eyes, hating how fast we were going when suddenly I appeared in the white void. It was different though this time, we were still in the car. Tom was talking about something when a car, more specifically a dark green van, veered into our lane and we collided with it. The scene froze as I noticed several other cars around us, all small cars of many colors. The scene continued to play and I found myself in my body as a piece of metal flew through the shield and pierced my chest. I visibly flinched and opened my eyes, bringing myself back to reality. Kirlia jumped as well, she must have been asleep when I flinched. Tom looked over at me and waved his hand a bit.

"Hey, you OK man?" I nodded and tried to slow my heart rate while glancing around. Up ahead I noticed the green van as well as the rest of the cars from whatever I saw.

"Hey…get over a lane." I said between gasps. Tom looked at me but did as he was told, getting in the lane to the left of the green van. Just as we were getting close to passing, the van suddenly veered over into the lane we previously were in. Tom swore and floored it as the van got dangerously close to us. I glanced out my window and saw that the man was drunk, holding a beer bottle in his hand.

"If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd bust his ass for drunk driving…" Tom muttered. The rest of the drive was uneventful thankfully, and I dozed off in the car a bit. Instead of actually sleeping, I let my body rest and explored around in my mind again. The tunnel that led to Kirlia's mind was constricted, indicating she was probably asleep, leaving me alone to the white void. I milled over several thoughts, such as my feelings towards Kirlia. Although we just met, it was undeniable she felt an attraction to me. My problem was that I needed to come to the conclusion if I felt the same way, and if I did what to do about it. Pokémon and human relationships aren't forbidden; they're just not viewed as mainstream or widely known. I sighed and summoned up the sphere-map. There were clusters of spheres flying by me, popping in and out of my range as Tom sped down the Interstate. The only constant spheres were Tom's, Kirlia's and the rest of my Pokémon. Technically the Chief's Pokémon as my only other was Growlithe's.

My thoughts returned to Kirlia again and the situation at hand. On one note, I was glad she likes me and trusts me. I just don't want her to get to the point that we were at earlier today. I mean, her eyes alone just drew me in. I smiled a bit as I remembered that feeling of happiness that her eyes gave me. The white void faded to a pinkish hue as I laid back and smile. However, my peace was disturbed as I looked up and noticed the tunnel widen some. I extended some feeling across it to see if she was awake and was surprised to feel an immediate response.

"{Tom awoke me. We are nearly there. He didn't want to wake you as you haven't had much sleep aside from being unconscious in the hospital.}" She appeared from the tunnel and walked over to me. I sat up and smiled, holding out a hand. She jumped a little and ran over, jumping in my lap as I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you for informing me. My body is just resting while my mind is still very much active." I said, looking around. "I should sleep though; else I'll be extremely tired." She nodded and burrowed into my chest a little bit.

"I'm curious as to why you do that." I said. She looked up at me with a questioning look.

"{What do you mean?}" I laughed and scratched her head.

"Why do you burrow into my chest like that? I'm not complaining or anything, it feels good. But I was wondering: why?" She sat up and looked at me for a few minutes.

"{You nearly died because of me.}" She said mournfully, tears coming to her eyes. "{I lay on your chest so I can hear your heart beat still. It's how I know that you're still alive.}" A single tear slid down her face as she said that. I smiled and wiped a finger across her face, catching the tear.

"It's OK, I'm not going anywhere." She nodded and hugged me again.

"{You're the first person to show me kindness in my life…I don't want to lose you…}" I ran a hand through her hair again before gently lifting her chin up and connected eyes with her.

"You don't talk about your past…would you please? I'd like to know." She shuddered and averted her eyes. My own void turned a dark green as she got up and walked around a bit.

"You don't have to if you d-" she held up a hand and sniffed.

"{My mother never loved me.}" She said quietly. "{Because I was…different than the others, because I was this…horrible blue color instead of the gorgeous green that everyone else had. My eyes even are different.}" She whirled around, tears flowing freely now. "{I was an outcast as a child! The other Ralts' refused to play with me; they refused to even acknowledge my presence!}" She burst into sobs.

"{I thought it couldn't get worse. My father was the only one who loved me. Do you know what it's like to have a mother who doesn't love you, who doesn't even recognize you as her own child?}" I tried to get up, but she slid away some.

"{No, let me finish.}" She managed to get out. "{I still remember the day that they came…it was awful. Men in black garb everywhere. They were shouting at us, throwing nets everywhere. My dad jumped to try to save some of the young ones that were trapped and…}" she stopped for a bit. "{They put some metal device to him…similar to the one that the man that hurt you had…to his chest and he fell over.}" The void faded to a dark gray, almost pitch black. My heart dropped as I realized what she was saying.

"They…they shot him…didn't they?" She fell on the ground, lying on her back as the tears continued to run down, her golden eyes staining red.

"{I ran over to him and tried to do something. I pushed him and tried to move him around to get him to wake up, but he didn't! One of the men grabbed me and pulled me away from his body, wrapping me in a net.}" I ran over to her, and picked her up, holding her in my arms. She was crying into my shoulder, unable to get any more words out.

"Shh…" I said, running my hand across her back. After several minutes of crying, she pulled back some and looked at me in the eyes.

"{There's one more thing…as I was being dragged away…I saw my mother. She was looking at me.}" Kirlia closed her eyes, holding back more tears. "{She turned around and walked off, abandoning me to them.}" She couldn't hold her tears back anymore and buried her head in my shoulder, letting a stream of tears flow down my shirt.

"Hey…it's OK now…" I said, rubbing her back. "You're with me now and I won't let anything happen to you, got it?" I kept rubbing her back until she calmed down enough to small sniffles before holding her out in front of me.

"See? I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here for a long time you know." She nodded then looked off to the side.

"{When you got…shot…it was just like…when my dad did. I was so scared that I was going to lose someone else that had shown me kindness in my life. Losing that again…I don't know what would've happened.}" I pulled her into a hug again, and rubbed her back again.

"Don't worry, it'll be OK. I promise." Her body shivered a bit as I pulled her away from me again. Our eyes locked once more and the void changed from dark gray to light pink. Nothing could've stopped me from what we did next. I slowly pulled her close to me and kissed her on the lips. It was a kiss that sealed something inside of me, something that felt right. Her lips were warm and smooth to the touch, like the rest of her body. We stood there for several minutes, just with our lips pressed together in a simple act of affection that rippled across our mental link. It was me that broke the kiss, as I pulled back and looked into her bright golden, tear stained eyes.

"Do you believe me know Kirlia?" I asked her. "I told you thinks are going to be OK, and they will be." She nodded and rested her head in my chest as the void faded from pink to a peaceful blue. I closed my eyes and found myself back in reality, Kirlia still lying on my chest and Tom still driving on the highway. I yawned a little bit before carefully adjusting myself which Tom noticed.

"Oh, you're awake." He said. "I told your Kirlia that we were close, and actually the exit is right here." We slowly veered off the highway onto the off-ramp and pulled onto a small road. Fortunately, it wasn't far of the highway before we pulled onto another side-road that led off into the woods.

"You do know where you're going right?" I asked him. He nodded and pointed straight ahead.

"We're going into Floaroma Fields where the house is located." I sighed and looked ahead. It wasn't that long of a drive into the woods before a massive field was laid out in front of us. The moon was up in the sky now, the sun long since leaving us to the moon. Out in the distance I could make out a small house that had a small dirt road lead up to it.

"Is that the house?" I asked, pointing to it. He nodded and pushed the accelerator down some, launching us off. It was a few minutes before we reached the house. Tom opened the trunk and got out, motioning for me to follow him. I nodded and unbuckled myself before gently running my hand along Kirlia's back.

"Hey…it's time to get up." I whispered. She stirred a bit before opening her eyes and looking up at me.

"{O…ok…}" she said quietly. I opened the door and walked around to the trunk and grabbed my bag. Tom slammed the trunk shut and tossed me a set of keys.

"House keys. Go in and make yourself comfortable and get used to your new life here in Floaroma Town. I've got to get back to Cerulean City by morning." With a nod, he jumped back in his car and backed down the path to the main road. I saw him flick on his headlights before speeding off into the distance. I looked at Kirlia in my arms before back to the house.

"Well Kirlia, let's get ourselves comfortable here in our new home…"I said, setting her down. I picked up my luggage and slowly made my way to the house, hoping that maybe I could finally get some rest and calm down in this small foreign town. I opened the door to the house and was greeted with the smell of new furniture and cleaner. I sighed and threw my luggage on the floor, walked over to the couch and promptly fell on it, face first. It made a soft poof noise as I slowly sank some into the couch. It smelled like lemons, probably the cleaner but I didn't care. I was exhausted and I needed to sleep. I rotated onto my back and kicked off my shoes, not bothering to change. Kirlia hopped up and curled in the space between me and the couch and slid towards my head.

"Good night Kirlia…"I whispered. She smiled slightly and popped out of her spot and laid her head on my chest.

"{Good night…master.}"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

=Kirlia's PoV=

A gentle breeze awoke me from my nap. I yawned and looked around at the change in my surroundings, surprised to see myself out in what appeared to be the Floaroma Meadows, sitting under a massive tree that overlooked most of the field. Getting up, I walked around a bit, trying to find the house that Alex and I just unofficially moved in to. It was nowhere in sight. I sighed and sat back down, looking over the endless of rainbow colored flowers, each carrying their own scent, further enhanced by the breeze blowing around. I mentally stretched myself out, trying to see if there was any life force around me, and was shocked when there was one rather large sphere coming up the hill behind me. I turned around and felt my heart race as I saw Alex, my master, walk over the hill.

"Master!" I called out to him. He looked up and waved at me before running down the hill, towards me. I took off towards him, happy to see that he was safe. I came over the top of the hill just in time for him to reach the base of mine. I jumped up into the air, allowing gravity to pull me back down. He waited with open arms as I fell into him, wrapping my own tiny arms around him.

"Hey there Kirlia, glad to see you too." He said, gently rubbing my back. "Any clue where we are?" I buried my face in his chest again, hearing the rhythm of his heart beat and was satisfied he was real and alive. I looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm assuming Floaroma Meadows…the flowers everywhere gave me the hint." He laughed a bit and sat down, placing me in his lap. I leaned into his chest again, hearing his heartbeat, and the slow steady rhythm of his breathing. I felt safe here, against his chest. He felt strong, and gave me a sense of security that I was terrified to lose. I shivered a bit as another breeze gently blew over us, toying with my hair.

"We should try to find the house soon…it might rain." He said, pointing to a cluster of dark clouds in front of us. As if waiting for him to say something, the clouds rumbled and sent down lightning, striking the ground with a loud crack. The noise was frightening to me and I burrowed into Alex's chest. He laughed and ran his hands through my hair, doing his best to comfort me.

"You don't like the thunder and lightning do you?" he asked. I shook my head and looked up at him, feeling the tears form in my eyes.

"They scare me…" I whispered. "The crashing of thunder…and the bright lights that flash around…they always kept me up when I was younger."

"Really? They always helped me sleep. I'm not sure why exactly, but the rumbling of the thunder put my mind at ease, allowed me to relax." I shook my head and turned back to look at the approaching clouds.

"Are we really going to just sit out here until they come?" I asked. Alex nodded and lay completely flat in the grass. I sighed and lay on top of his chest, looking into his face. Another crack of thunder shook the ground and I flinched slightly, sliding closer to his face.

"I'm scared of them…" I whispered. Alex put his arms around me, putting me in a bear hug and squeezed gently.

"Don't be afraid of them Kirlia." He said, letting go of me before playing with my hair. It always calmed me down whenever he ran his fingers through my hair. The storms that just riled me up now seemed meaningless as I sat there on the chest of my master. I slowly closed my eyes as he continued to gently stroke my hair.

"See? If you're calm, they won't bother you at all." He whispered. "And the steady grumbling of the thunder will put you to sleep…" As if in response, the clouds let out a crack of thunder that gently shook the ground. I flinched a little again, but he placed a hand on my stomach, holding me in place, still stroking my hair.

"Shh…it's OK…" he whispered. "Relax…" I sighed and turned around so his hand was on my back and slowly slid towards his face.

"Easy for you to say…you've dealt with them longer than I have." I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh.

"True, but don't worry about it." The clouds were sliding overhead of us, slowly blocking out the sun from our view. A few drops of rain landed on me before they fell down in sheets. Alex didn't move a muscle; instead, he sat there and opened his mouth some.

"Master, what are you doing?" I asked him, trying to cover my head with my small hands.

"Getting a drink, what does it look like?" I rolled over onto the grass on my back, in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"What?" He asked, getting up. "What's so funny?" He was hardly able to contain his own laughter now. I rolled onto my side to face him, still smiling.

"You're just so funny sometimes." I said. He smiled and moved a bit closer to me and placed an arm on my head.

"Thank you for that." He said. I smiled as he slowly scratched my head and I couldn't help feeling a warming sensation bloom within me. His hand left my head and I looked up, slightly confused. The rain had increased in its downpour, drenching us.

"Perhaps we should try finding shelter." He said. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, startling me. I jumped on top of his chest and grabbed a hold of his shirt. I felt his arms come around me, holding me close to his body.

"Don't let the fear of the lightning rule your body…" he whispered. "So don't worry about what happens." I looked up at him, feeling tears form in my eyes as the lightning increased in intensity. I could see it reflecting off the surface of his sky blue eyes and for a second, I was captivated by them. My body moved on its own as I slid up and placed my hands on his cheeks. Without giving it another thought, I slowly leaned forward and kissed him. Time seemed to freeze around us as we shared a passionate kiss, our tongues slowly toying with each other, his trying to push its way into me and mine into him. There was a bright flash, and I opened my eyes in time to see a bolt of lightning heading for us. It connected with me and all I could feel was pain.

…

I slowly opened my eyes and I found myself back in the small house, lying on the couch, with a storm raging outside. However, our positions were different; I was on the couch next to him, him on his side, and…it took me a minute to figure out why we were so close: Our lips were connected like we were kissing. My heart skipped a beat as his eyes slowly opened.

"{Master…our lips…}" I whispered telepathically. It took him a second to realize what I meant and he slowly backed up some, breaking the contact of our lips.

"Uhm…I'm not sure what just happened…" he said, blushing profusely. "Did…did we also have the same dream?" I slid down some, and pushed my back into his chest, feeling the warmth it gave off.

"{I hate lightning…}" I whispered. He laughed a little and put a hand in front of me. I reached out and grabbed a hold of it, pulling it close to my chest.

"I'll be here the rest of the night, and we're indoors now…so there's no chance of lightning hitting us in here." He said. I giggled a little and wrapped both of my small arms around his hand, feeling content with this contact between us.

"{Good night Master}" I said, closing my eyes. Before I slipped off into sleep, I felt his mind slowly embrace me, spreading warmth along our mental link.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

=Alex's PoV=

When I awoke, the sun was shining outside, the storms from last night having long since blown away. I slowly sat up, careful not to disturb Kirlia, who was resting against my chest, and managed to work my way out of the couch. I explored the small house and found the actual bedroom I should've slept in. Ignoring the rather comfortable looking bed, I walked into the bathroom, deciding to see what was exactly in there. I found the necessities; a sink, toilet, shower, and a bath tub. I took a quick smell of my shirt and it stunk; I could use a shower.

After quietly retrieving my luggage from the living room floor, and placing a pillow in Kirlia's arms to keep her from waking up, I pulled out a set of fresh clothes and wandered into the shower. I closed the door, trying to quiet the latch to prevent any noises from disturbing Kirlia and quickly undressed. Thankfully, when I turned the water on, it heated up fast and I didn't have to stand in the middle of the bathroom naked. Once in, I stood there, letting the warm water run over my body, trying to relax from the craziness of the past two days. I ran my hands over my chest, glad that none of the bullets that hit me went all the way through. I sighed and looked around for some soap when I realized with horror I couldn't find any and that they were in my suitcase in the living room.

"Son of a bitch…" I muttered. "Here goes nothing…" I stepped out of the shower, quickly realizing I had also forgotten a towel.

"Oh great…new house and I'm already dripping all over it…"I laughed a little at how I worded the ending before slowly opening the door. I walked down the hallway, leaving the bathroom door open so I could dash back in if necessary. Thankfully Kirlia was still asleep when I walked out into the room. Just to double check, I checked the sphere-map and confirmed that she was sleeping by touching her sphere. It was calm and content still, indicating she was asleep. I slowly tip-toed my way into the living room, getting on my knees and slowly sliding towards my suitcase. I grabbed the handle and slowly pulled it along the carpet, trying to get it out of the room when the side of it connected with the coffee table, making a rather loud series of popping noise as the zipper slid along the edge. Kirlia stirred a little bit, but thankfully remained asleep. I let out a small sigh of relief and slid the suitcase away from the table so the zipper wouldn't run along the edge, and began to pull again when the handle snapped off. I fell backwards, landing on my butt, facing the side of the couch. Kirlia awoke with a start, leaning up and looking around the room for the source of the noise when her eyes landed on me.

"{Master…?}" she asked, yawning. "{What are you doing?}" I looked down at myself and realized just how awkwardly I was sitting; Kirlia was able to look right at my penis and there was nothing I could do about it at this point. The fact that Kirlia was able to stare at it wasn't helping in the slightest, as it was starting to twitch slightly. Hastily, I covered it with my hands and looked back up at her, praying she didn't see anything.

"N-no-nothing Kirlia!" I stammered. "Just trying to get some stuff, that's all. Nothing to see here!" She looked at me suspiciously and rolled off the couch onto the floor, walking over to me.

"{What are you covering with your hands?}" She said, walking closer. I tried my best to avert my gaze, but at this point my perverted mind took over. I couldn't help notice the way she swayed her hips a little as she walked, or how smooth her skin looked to touch, or just even cuddling her, that would be perfect right now. I felt my penis begin poking at my hand, almost begging for me to move my hands. Fortunately, part of my sane mind was keeping control of my hands and I kept them close. She stopped in front of me and bent over a little, staring at my hands before looking back up at me.

"{Are you going to tell me?}" she asked, twisting her head a little bit. As she asked, I felt a small mental probe attempt to enter my mind where my perverted thoughts were running rampant. I managed to keep her out of my mind, but she distracted me long enough to grab my hands and move them. I cringed as I felt my erect penis fly out into the open air. Kirlia stared at it for a second before looking up at me.

"{Um…master…what is this?}" She said, pointing to my penis.

"Well…it's something all males have…" I said, quickly turning red. I averted my eyes from her, trying to clear my mind of provocative images involving the two of us on the couch performing unspeakable acts when I felt what I assumed her hand touching it. I quickly moved my hands back over my penis and jumped up, backing away a bit.

"That's something we don't touch." I said quickly. She pouted a little and walked towards me.

"{But what is it for?}" she persisted, pointing at my hands. "{It exists for a reason right?}" I sighed and looked over her shoulder back at my suitcase, silently cursing it for the handle snapping on me before looking back at Kirlia, her golden eyes almost digging a hole into my hands. Her curiosity was rather adorable, but it didn't help this situation out at all as it was affecting my ability to resist grabbing her and going to town on the couch.

"I need to take a shower…so…we can have this discussion later." I said, trying to edge my way around her. She sighed and moved out of the way, allowing me to get to my suitcase. I smiled, thankful to be done with this awkward conversation and quickly unzipped the suitcase, grabbing a towel and a bar of soap before taking back off into the restroom, slamming the door shut. I sighed and looked down at my still erect penis and then to the shower. I dropped the towel and walked into the shower, setting the soap down onto the small soap rack. The water, thankfully, was still warm as it ran down my body, warming me back up. I sighed and picked the soap back up, and began to wash my body, trying to avoid touching my erect penis. Several uncomfortable minutes later, I finished washing my body off and stepped out of the shower, turning the water off. I picked up the towel and began drying myself off when I heard the door knob click and the door swing open. Kirlia wandered in, looking at me, then at the shower, then back at me.

"{Can you help me get washed?}" she whispered. "{I'm…not sure how to do that…}" I looked at her for a second, then back down at my penis, which was starting to twitch as some obscene images flashed in my mind, and back at her.

"Sure…gimme a few minutes to get changed and we'll get started." I said. She smiled happily and nodded running back out of the room, closing the door. I sighed and threw the towel down, staring at my erect penis.

"You are going to give me no end of grief…" I said to my penis. Glad it didn't respond, I quickly threw on my clothes and called Kirlia in to teach her how to take a shower.

=Kirlia's PoV=

I wasn't sure what to think of Master's…penis. It looked swollen and painful. The way he reacted when I touched it wasn't what I expected, nor was when he blocked me from entering his mind. I sighed and walked back out to the living room, waiting for Master to call me in so he could teach me this interesting concept of washing and showering.

"Kirlia! Come here!" He called out. I jumped off the couch, a smile over my face. Just being around him, no no, just _thinking_ about him makes me smile. I walked back to where he was and pushed open the door, walking into a rather hot room.

"{Erm…master, it's a bit hot in here.}" I said, coughing a little bit. He smiled and picked me up, walking over to some interesting looking tub. There was water coming from the wall out, hitting the bottom of the tub. I made the deduction that the steam was coming from the water and that it was probably really hot.

"{You don't plan on putting me in that hot water, do you?}" I asked him. He shook his head, reaching for some knob in the wall.

"Nah, turning it down some for you. I had it really hot. It's how I like my showers." I decided to make a mental note of two things: 1) that this was called a shower, and 2) that he likes a hot shower. We sat there in total silence until the steam stopped rising up from the tub, when he moved and ran his hand over the water.

"Ahh…there we go, much better." I jumped down from his grip, landing in front of the tub and tried to reach the water. However the edge was a bit too high for me to get to. I heard master chuckle a little and felt his hands move around my sides.

"Here, let me help you up there." He said, lifting me off the ground, setting me in the tub. I quickly moved out of his grip and away from the water, not sure if it was still too hot or not. He laughed again before gently pushing me in the back.

"Go on, it's OK." He said. "I promise." I looked back up at him and then back to the water. I waited a few seconds before slowly taking a step to the water, extending my arm as far as I could reach it. I felt the water barely hit my fingertips and realized that the water was at a rather pleasant temperature. Sighing in relief, I took a step into the falling water and let it run down my body, soaking me completely. It felt amazing and refreshing at the same time, and I was startled when I suddenly felt master's touch on my back. I whirled around, nearly falling over, to see master holding a small white bar in his hand.

"Easy, it's OK" he said, using his other hand to scratch my head. "It's just soap; it's used to clean your body of germs." I took a cautious step towards it before allowing master to press it against my body. He moved me out of the way of the water and started to rub the soap against my body.

"{It feels…weird…}" I said as it ran over my body, leaving a white bubbly trail. He smiled at me.

"Don't worry, it'll make you clean." He said. I sighed and crossed my arms as he continued to run the bar over my body, making sure to get almost every area. He eventually set the bar of soap down and got his hands wet in the stream of water. I took a step towards the water and he put his hand out, stopping me.

"{Ahh…what? Why can't I get in the water!}" I said, pouting. "{I want to get this soapy stuff off of me.}" He laughed and began to rub my body, spreading the soapy bubbles around.

"We've got to scrub your body clean now, then we can rinse off the soap." He said. I wasn't really paying attention though; the feeling of master's hands rubbing my body was enough to make me zone out and ignore the world, only focusing on the feeling of his hands. They were smooth and reminded me of my father's hands, the way he ran his fingers through my hair even was similar to what my master did. Everything about master was reminding me about my dad…and before I knew it, I felt warm water dousing me, taking off the soap as it ran across my body. I also realized that I was crying, and was sure that master was soon to notice. I turned away from him, facing the opposite direction as I tried to stop my tears from falling but they refused to stop. Master must have noticed as I felt his hands on my sides as he picked me up.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad was it?" he asked me. I shook my head before looking up at him. His eyes were filled with worry. I hated seeing his beautiful eyes filled with worry over me and it caused me to cry even more. I held out my arms and he pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back.

"What's wrong Kirlia? Is it something I did?" I nodded slowly before he pulled me back and looked at me, trying to keep eye contact.

"What did I do?" he asked. I shuddered, wiping the tears from my eyes as I contemplated telling him about how much he reminded me of my father, all his little actions he did to me, how I adored him and loved to be around him. I wondered if he would reject me and leave me be in the world just like I was before he found me.

"{I wouldn't abandon you Kirlia…}" He said telepathically, startling me. I looked up at him, a few tears still running down my face. He adjusted his grip on me to free a hand, wiping the tears from my face.

"I would never Kirlia…" he whispered. "I would never abandon you. You're too special for me to do that." He slowly pulled me closer and I put my hands on his cheeks.

"{Master…}" I whispered weakly. He closed the distance between us and kissed me. I froze as he slowly pulled back from the kiss and smiled at me.

"Now we actually kissed in the real world and not in our dreams or while we were asleep." He said. I stared at him for a bit before putting my head into his chest.

"{I take it you also know about me thinking of how much you remind me of…}"

"Your dad?" he said, finishing my sentence. I nodded and he sighed.

"Yes, I know of that. I'm sorry about your dad…do you not want me to do those things?" I pulled back quickly and stared at him.

"{No! I love it when you do that!}" I exclaimed, and then quickly averted my eyes, blushing profusely. He smiled and patted my head, running his fingers through my extremely wet hair.

"Well then it's settled. I'll keep doing them." He said, smiling at me. "After all, I want to make the one I love happy." I looked back up at him, wide eyed.

"{You…you love me?}" I said, shocked. He slowly nodded before turning his head, blushing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The same person that rescued me was now confessing his love to me. It was like a dream come true for me! I squirmed out of his grip and landed on the floor. He moved his hands to pick me back up, about to say something when I dashed towards him, burying my face into his stomach.

"{You don't know what this means to me!}" I said, fresh tears coming down. "{I love you so much!}" I could feel happiness radiating out of him as he rubbed my back and toying with the ends of my hair. I shuddered and rolled over, looking up at his bright blue eyes and smiled, happy that he feels the same way about me as I do him.

"Come on, let's go into town." He said, lifting me up by the sides and setting me on the counter. "We gotta meet the townspeople sometime." I nodded and held my arms out and he picked me up. I kissed him on the nose and giggled.

"{OK Master!}" I exclaimed. "{Let's go together!}" He nodded in agreement, and the two of us, with me in his arms, began to walk out to living room when he stopped and turned around. I looked back up at him questioningly

"{Why are we going back?}" I asked. He laughed a little bit before looking down at me.

"I need to dry you off, you'll catch a cold out there." He said. I looked down at myself and noticed that I was still soaked in water. I laughed and nodded.

"{OK, sounds good!}" He set me back down on the floor of the bathroom and picked up his towel, throwing it over me. I was in a world of darkness as I attempted to find the edge of the towel. It didn't take long before I managed to stick my head out and crawl out from under it.

"{That wasn't very nice you know.}" I told him, laying down on the towel. He stuck his tongue out and wrapped the towel around me, rubbing it around my body.

"Bah, I thought it was comical." He replied. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to finish drying me off. He must have been reading my mind again as he unrolled the towel and I came tumbling out, rolling on the floor a little before I pushed myself up.

"There, all done!" he said happily, throwing the towel on the counter. I looked at myself and was happy to see the water was gone.

"{Alright! Can we go now?}" I asked. He nodded and held out his arms. I backed up a little before taking a running leap into his arms, landing against his chest. I glanced into my mind, looking at the link and the overflowing joy that was radiating out of the two of us. If any Psychic Pokémon were in the area, they would notice us rather fast. But I didn't care. I was in the arms of the one I loved and he loved me back unconditionally; that much I was able to glean from his mind. Together, the two of us walked out of the house and started down the dirt path towards the center of the tiny town of Floaroma.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was a bright sunny day outside. The fields were in full bloom around us as we made our way down the path. Kirlia had decided to walk next to me on the way to town instead of me holding her in my arms. For all we know, Pokémon and human relationships could be forbidden in this region. We had no idea, so we thought we'd play it safe until we got to town and talked to some of the locals there.

"I wonder what the town is like…" I wondered aloud. "I mean, we didn't even stop in the town, we just drove right through the outer area till we got to where we live now. Tom was in a rush to get back to Cerulean, he probably got no sleep cause of it. I sighed and looked around, a sea of multi-colored flowers all around us. The air was sweet and fresh, to be expected in such a place.

"{Let's hope the townsfolk are friendly.}" Kirlia said; a bounce in each of her steps. "{I really don't want to have people upset…it makes me sad.}" I laughed a little and nodded.

"Agreed, no angry people." I quickly checked the area around us mentally, looking for any life forms. My sphere-map was very bright; there were dozens of Pokémon around us and they had noticed our presence. For the most part, they were not concerned about us, thankfully, but a few were curious. The spheres that approached us, I touched mentally and shooed them away. Kirlia noticed what I was doing and laughed.

"{Don't feel like dealing with some friendly Pokémon?}" She asked, sticking her tongue out. I shook my head.

"Not at this hour. I'd rather not walk into town and have to immediately use a Pokémon Center, if this small town even has one."

"{What? Are you implying that I'm too week to defend us?}" I mentally smacked myself for the poor wording choice.

"No no, not at all!" I said, shaking my head, hoping she wouldn't slap me. "I mean, what I guess I should've said is I don't want to take an injured Pokémon to the center." I heard her giggle.

"{Good save.}" I laughed myself.

"Yeah, anyway, how much longer is this dirt road?" My question was answered as we wandered around the bend to see it go through the forest. On the other side of the forest, I could make out another building with a bright orange roof.

"I spoke too soon, it appears there is a Pokémon Center and we are close to town." I said happily. "Come on! I'll race you there!" I took off running.

"{He..hey! Wait! No fair!}" I soon heard Kirlia take off running then I felt something land on my back, nearly throwing me off balance. I turned around to see Kirlia on my back smiling at me.

"Oh, and this is fair?" She nodded and stuck her tongue out. I rolled my eyes and continued to run, only slowing to a walk once we got near the exit. She hopped off my back and took her place by my legs as we walked into the town. Nobody was outside, but it was apparent that there was recent activity in the town; not to mention there were more flowers here too. With nobody around, I decided to walk around to the front of the Pokémon Center, which was also deserted, and walk in. It was quiet inside, only a few people sitting in the available chairs, and a particularly cheerful lady at the counter.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center, how can I help you?" she asked, her hair lightly bouncing as she spoke. I smiled and shook my head.

"Nothing today, just moved into the town and was checking things out." I said. Kirlia hopped up on to the counter and smiled at the nurse who, if possible, smiled wider.

"Oh and you have an adorable Kirlia!" she shrieked, pulling her into a hug. "How on earth did you manage to get her?" I thought about it for a second and smiled.

"Sheer luck." I said, laughing a little bit. It wasn't a lie technically; as it was really lucky I came into contact with her. Thankfully the nurse took the answer and nodded, stroking Kirlia's hair who loved every minute of it, rubbing her head into the nurses gentle hands, practically begging for more.

"She is adorable though!" The nurse said again. "I wish I had one of my own!" She sighed before turning around to the rather large machine behind her as it began to ding impatiently.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming…" She said, pressing several buttons. A panel on top slid open, revealing two Pokéballs. She carefully picked each one up and placed them on a tray that was on top of the machine. Once both were transferred, she carried the tray to the counter.

"Calling Pokémon Trainer Fae to the counter! Your Pokémon are finished healing!" There was some shuffling and I turned around to see a young blonde girl bounce up from her chair and walk over. I didn't even have to be in my psychic realm to figure out that she was a nice girl. Her personality seemed to radiate off of her, giving off a warm feeling that seemed to fill my mind with peaceful thoughts.

"Oh thank you nurse!" she exclaimed, delicately picking up the Pokéballs and placing them on her belt. "I know they weren't injured but I still like to give them weekly checkups." The nurse nodded and picked the tray back up.

"It makes perfect sense to me honey, better to be safe than sorry with all the mischief going on in the larger towns." She shuddered a bit. "To bad it's a matter of time before it reaches here." The nurse turned around to mess with the machine a bit and Fae turned to face me.

"You are new here." She said, holding out her hand. "I'm Fae, what's your name?" I took her hand.

"My name is-" Before I could finish the sentence, there was some commotion at the front of the center. I turned around, Kirlia jumping off the counter and landing in front of me, arms at the ready when I realized it was just Tom, tripping over the small step that led into the center. He casually tried to walk it off before coming up to me.

"Ah, I made it in time Johnny!" He said, holding out a Pokéball. "Here, you forgot this in the move." The moment my hand made contact with the ball, I knew immediately it was Growlithe. I was pondering for a few how Growlithe was left in the move. I know for sure he wasn't, but I looked back at Tom who was now running out of the center.

"I'll catch up with you later; need to go to work man." He said running out. I waved at him before placing the ball in my pocket and turning back to Fae who was staring at the door.

"Peculiar man to say the least…" she said trailing off before turning back to me. "Anyway, my name is Fae, and I'm assuming yours is Johnny?" I shook her hand again and nodded.

"Yep, pleased to meet you."

"{If she tries to go lovey duffy on you, I'll forcefully pull her hair out by the roots.}" Kirlia whispered over the connection, jealousy seeping into my mind. "{I mean it too…}" I nearly laughed at her rather vehement response.

"{Be nice! She's just being friendly and introducing herself to us.}" Kirlia sighed and turned around, looking at me. I knew that look to well and I held my arms out. She smiled with delight and jumped into my arms, burying her head in my chest. Fae giggled a little bit.

"Do you think I could pet her? She's adorable looking!" she exclaimed. I looked down at Kirlia.

"{Is it OK? Or do you not want her to touch you.}" Kirlia almost lazily looked over to Fae who was smiling back and back to me.

"{Her personality is that of flowers, sweet smelling. I like her for the most part, but if she tries anything funny to you, I'll whack her.}" I laughed a little and nodded.

"It's OK, she won't mind." Fae jumped a little in delight and gently ran her delicate fingers through Kirlia's hair who seemed to be enjoying herself.

"{Ok…so it feels good…she has small fingers you know.}" Kirlia said hastily as I poked her mentally.

"{Right, I'm so not messing with your hair again.}" I said, chuckling. Fae looked up at me curiously.

"What's so funny?" She asked questioningly. I cleared my throat and shook my head.

"Nothing at all." I said. Kirlia was laughing at me mentally and it was all I could do to not start laughing again out loud.

"{Stop it you!}" I begged. "{I can't hold in laughing for much longer if you don't stop.}" Her laughter ceased after a bit and she cleared her throat. I mentally sighed. "{Thank you, it's hard not to laugh when you do. It's almost like hearing a child's laughter, sweet and innocent.}" Kirlia faced turned deep red as she burrowed into my chest a bit, drawing some laughter out of Fae.

"Slightly shy is she?" Fae asked. I nodded, thankful that she didn't think of anything else and glad that she couldn't hear the mental conversation we were having. Fae stopped petting her and stretched for a second before walking towards the door.

"I'm gonna go out and about for a few, want to tag along? I can give you the tour of the town if you want." I looked down at Kirlia, stroking her hair for a second to pull her away from my chest. I looked deep into her eyes and gently touched the mental link.

"{Want to go around the town?}" I whispered. She smiled and nodded before placing her face into my chest. I looked back up at Fae and smiled.

"That sounds good to me." I walked out the door with Fae into the bright morning sun and looked around at the town. There were more people out than earlier, moving rather slow, but it was better than nothing. Fae took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Ahh, nothing like the smell of a spring morning!" she said excitedly before turning to me. "I run the flower shop here now ever since the original owners moved out. All the flowers have grown fuller each year because my Pokémon and I work on them weekly." She took off towards a small building to the right of the forest path that led back to the Meadows.

"It sounds like hard work." I said. She nodded.

"Aye, but when it's something you love to do, it doesn't matter how hard it is." She replied. We reached the door of the shop and she pulled out a small key from her pocket, unlocking the door. She pushed it open and I was hit with the scent of hundreds of different flowers. Fae took another breath and giggled in delight before walking in. I chuckled a little myself and followed her in.

"{A bit of a whack job…}" Kirlia commented. I mentally poked her in the side.

"{Behave yourself!}" I said, scolding her. She sighed and nodded.

"{Fine…but I do say it does smell extremely nice in here.}" I grunted in agreement, causing Fae to turn around again.

"Did you say something?" she asked. I cleared my throat again and shook my head.

"No, might be my allergies acting up again though." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know really." Fae laughed a little and flicked a few switches, lighting up the shop. There were quite literally hundreds of flower pots everywhere, each pot holding a different flower. Kirlia hopped out of my arms and started walking around, taking a sniff from each one individually; her excitement flowing over the connection.

"{So many smells; so little time to enjoy them all!}" She said excitedly. "{I wish there were more time to smell them all!}" I walked up beside her and scratched her head a little. She turned and faced me, a wide smile on her face.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself." I said, laughing.

"You two talk?" Fae called out, hidden behind a sea of pots and plants.

"Erm, yeah, we do." I said, slightly hesitant. "Is that bad?" I heard her grunt for a second and a dull thud before I saw her reappear, standing up with her hands on her back.

"No, was just curious. She seems close to you, that's all." She turned around for a second before looking back. "Just be careful around the elderly. The laws allowing Pokémon relationships were only recently passed and the older folks tend to…stick to the older rules." She looked up at me and held her hands up, looking rather embarrassed.

"I'm not implying that you two are in a relationship or anything, honestly!" She said hastily. "I'm just saying that your behavior can imply that you two are close like that, I'm not as ignorant as some people around here. Everyone knows a trainer and a Gardevoir have a close bond regardless…" she trailed off a little before returning to whatever she was doing. I couldn't tell as it was obscured by all the pots and plants.

"Do you need a hand over there?" I asked her. She stood up and shook her head.

"Nah, I'm OK. Do you want to keep exploring the town? I can come with you; all of this can wait till later." I shook my head.

"No thanks, I'll go and head home, got a few things I need to do there myself." I leaned over and held out my arms. Kirlia smiled and jumped up into them, burying her face in my chest.

"{Still warm…}" she said, sighing. I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Catch you later Fae." I walked out of her shop holding Kirlia in my arms and looked around for a bit before I remembered the forest path was to the right of the shop. Carefully avoiding the flowers, I started down the forest path.

"{You know…}" Kirlia started. "{Now that I think about it, she was very nice to us.}"

"Yes she was; hopefully the rest of the town will be just as nice but I need to unpack and explore the fields a bit." Kirlia giggled.

"{Explore the fields and see seas of flowers? Really? Don't even.}" I looked down at her.

"Being a smartass now, eh?" She looked up and smiled.

"{I learned from the best!}" The two of us laughed and continued down the long forest path that led to the fields.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The forest path was rather long on the way back, or so it seemed. Kirlia didn't mind though, she was sitting on top of my head and looking around at all the sights. If I could see her eyes, I'd imagine they'd be bright and full of curiosity as she looked at the world around her.

"{Look at the different flowers!}" She exclaimed pointing up above me. "{I thought they only grew on the ground! Oh oh oh! Look! That tree has multi-colored leaves!}" Her excitement was bleeding over our link and was even getting me excited and happy.

"You are quite energetic now aren't you?" She laughed a little.

"{You could say that! There's just so much to see around here!}" I felt her hands come to rest on the front of my head, just above my forehead as I assume she leaned over. "{We'll have to explore this one day soon you know.}" I nodded slightly as to not disturb her and continued walking when she tensed up.

"{Someone with a bad vibe approaches from the town. They're moving very fast master!}" She said quietly. I quickly reached up and pulled her off my head, setting her down on the ground next to me and turning around. In the distance I saw what appeared to be a small motorbike speeding towards us. Kirlia seemed to get more and more nervous and tense as the bike approached.

"{Master, I think we should go…!}" She said, slightly tugging at my pants. But something kept me from moving. I had a feeling that we should stay here instead of moving. Kirlia knew what I was feeling and was visibly upset to the point of tears.

"{Master!}" she was now tugging at my pants to pull me along, but I refused to move. Instead, I got to one knee and braced myself for anything. The biker slowed down to a stop several meters away and got off. The air around me seemed to have gotten colder as the man approached the two of us, and he stopped no more than three yards in front of me.

"I am here to kill you." He said before pulling out a gun and pointing it at me. In a flash, Kirlia was in front of me, eyes glowing and both hands out forming a barrier in front of the two of us.

"{I don't think so.}" She whispered. Whether or not the man heard her was a different story as he approached the two of us, gun still at the ready; aimed at the two of us. He placed his foot against the barrier and started pressing against it, slowly sliding Kirlia backwards. She strained to keep the barrier up until it suddenly broke, shattering into hundreds of pieces. She screamed out in shock and lost her balance; falling forward right into his foot. In a matter of seconds, I watched as Kirlia went flying off somewhere in the distance and to him pointing the gun back at me again. I attempted to contact Kirlia over our link but it was dead. The link was closed, nearly sealed off completely. My heart raced as I tried to think how high up he might have hit her.

"Now, as I was saying before your pip-squeak Pokémon interrupted us…" he said. "I'm here to kill you." I stood there, dumbfounded as to what to do. It felt like de-ja-vu all over again, except now Kirlia wouldn't be able to save me. Tom had failed to hide us well enough and in less than twenty-four hours, they had found me already. I sighed and looked down at the ground shaking my head.

"No." I whispered. The gun went off, but the bullet never reached me. Instead I looked up to see a barrier floating in front of me, the bullet held in place. I soon also realized my left hand had moved of its own accord and was in front of the bullet, holding the barrier in place. The man seemed to look at me with shock and fired several more shots; all being stopped by the barrier.

"I don't think so…" I said, flicking my wrist. The bullets shot off harmlessly into a nearby tree and I looked into my mind briefly, seeing a new connection that seemingly appeared from nowhere. I mentally placed a hand on it and felt the power that was inside it. The man in front of me was visibly shaken by what he just saw and dropped his gun before charging at me pulling out a knife. My limbs flew out of my control as he came near me. Wherever he slashed his knife, my hand with a small barrier in it seemed to match him. My subconscious took full control, leaving me to just watch as my body defended itself from this attacker. He grew more and more frustrated with each slash; I could feel it from his emotions. His sphere grew bright red and changed deeper shades of red each minute. I extended a hand and made contact with his sphere. It was hot to the touch and send shivers down my mental spine. I gently cupped it in my hand and applied some pressure to it. It pulsed slightly, suddenly aware of my touch and he reacted on the surface; dropping his knife and clutching the sides of his head.

"Hey! Hey! Stop it!" He screamed. "Get out of my head!" I had no intention of letting go now.

"You attacked the one I love and then me." I said, my voice getting louder with each word. "You will suffer for it." I grabbed his mental sphere and plunged it into the beam of energy inside my mind. The man cowered in front of me, his mouth open in a wordless scream as he slowly lost the ability to control his body. I was in direct contact with his mind now, watching each mental layer of the sphere slowly peel away in the energy until all that was left was the core of his very being.

"Goodbye…" I whispered. The red light suddenly vanished and dissolved into the white beam of light inside my mind and the man stopped twitching. He sputtered a little bit before his breathing stopped and his eyes rolled back. I pulled out of the white light inside of my mind and my conscious self-gained control of my body once again. I stood there, looking at the man before my legs gave out. I briefly tasted blood as I smashed into the ground and blacked out.

…

When I opened my eyes I found myself inside my mind; lying down in the white void. I stood up and looked around at the familiar site of the tunnel which had thankfully returned to normal. The white beam of light had now become a pillar that stood straight up, extending towards the 'ceiling' and vanishing beyond that. However, an unexpected face appeared through the beam of light. A green-haired Gardevoir walked through and smiled at me.

"Hello there Alex!" She exclaimed cheerfully. I waved at her and slowly walked over.

"Why are you here again?" I asked her. She sighed and looked around.

"Directly to business, don't even wanna talk about life and how badly things are going for you huh?" She said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat.

"Not really to be honest, life has been rather crappy." I said quickly. "I was forced to leave my home to move to a new region to only be found by the same people again!" She looked back at me and smiled.

"Ah, but they didn't find your exact house did they?" she asked. I thought about it for a second and realized she was right.

"Yeah? They know the town at least." She shook her head again.

"If he had made it back alive or communicated with whoever hired him, they would've known. He was simply scouting random towns; he had no communication with them previously." She suddenly clutched her throat and coughed. Slightly panicked, I placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently, the color of the void turning a slight turquoise color.

"You OK?" I asked her. She straightened up and nodded, smiling once again.

"Just a small reminder." She said. I was tempted to ask about what, but she walked off before I had the chance. "So you gained powers now?" The question was unexpected.

"Yes, somewhat." She wandered over to the glowing pillar and placed a hand on it.

"It's larger than even mine." She stopped for a second and burst out laughing. I stared at her, slightly dumbfounded as to why she was laughing. When she noticed my expression, she covered her mouth for a few seconds before she spoke.

"I made a dirty joke without realizing it!" She resumed giggling uncontrollably for quite some time as I thought about what she had said and started laughing myself.

"I guess you did!" I said, smiling. The mood seemed to lighten a bit as she walked back over to me and hugged me. I hugged her back, still curious as to why she was hugging me, and as to why her red spiked…thing wasn't poking me. When she pulled away, I noticed it had retracted. Deciding to not question it, I looked around briefly.

"So why exactly are you here?" I asked her. She walked back towards the pillar of light and pointed to it.

"To make sure you got this at the right moment, and you had. But you overused it and now your body is resting." She strolled leisurely around the void, skipping a few steps here and there. "You'll gain more mastery over time, but only if you keep using it." It made sense obviously, just like using a muscle. She turned around and placed a hand on the beam and smiled.

"It's so much like…" her voice trailed off before she shook her head. "I must be off now, time is wasting and I have things to accomplish. She stepped into the pillar of light and disappeared. I scratched my head, wondering what the hell the point of the visit was. I had the beam/pillar/thing of light back at the fight. Perhaps it was her doing that I got the powers. I sat down and sighed when it hit me: What happened to Kirlia! I jumped up and rushed towards our mental link and tried to approach it when I was knocked back by a barrier around it.

"What in the hell?" I slowly got back up and extended a hand, coming into contact with a solid barrier. I pressed it a little bit before backing up and staring at the tunnel. Sighing, I turned around and plopped on the ground, not sure about what to do next when I heard a loud crack. I looked around for the source when I heard it again, closer this time. I looked down to see a small rather lop-sided circle slowly cracking around me.

"Oh f-"The piece of floor gave away and I had the sickening feeling of freefalling down into the endless white void. I fell for hours before I found myself lying down in a bright, endless green field. It happened so fast I nearly missed the transition. I sat up and looked around at the endless fields, thankful that there was some variation in the landscape. I turned and looked down my side and saw Kirlia lying next to me, sleeping peacefully. Something told me it was her and I trusted it, gently placing a hand on her head, running her hair through my fingers. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Good Morning Master…" she said, yawning. I picked her up and placed her in my lap. She was still groggy and a bit disoriented, almost like a child would be.

"Sleep well?" I asked her. She nodded and yawned again. I smiled and pulled her into a hug, feeling her warmth against my chest. However, something seemed off now. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on that something when her warmth disappeared. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but glowing white lights floating in front of me. Panic-stricken, I reached out and tried to grab the lights, but my hands passed through them.

"Kirlia?" I called out. "Kirlia!" There was no response. I stood up and did a 360, trying to see if I could spot her somewhere on the hills. Dread filled my heart as the sun-lit field darkened as clouds passed by overhead. When the cloud passed over me, the wind picked up, chilling me to the bones. I took off in a random direction hoping to find her or some sort of shelter to take cover in in case it started to rain. No sooner had the thought finished running through my mind did it begin to downpour. It was a cold rain, ice cold and stuck to my body, sapping all the heat out of me. But I kept running, I kept going to keep looking for Kirlia wherever she might have gone. I ran over the top of another hill and stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me was a black curtain, waving menacingly in the wind and slowly moving closer to me.

"Beware the Black Curtain…" A voice whispered. I looked around, then back to the curtain. I was alone now, and the curtain was in front of me.

"You must stop the Curtain before it is too late…" the same voice whispered. "And time is running out…" The world around me slowly faded away to darkness and I felt the same weightlessness as I plunged down into an endless void for what felt like hours. I kept dropping, looking around at the never changing darkness when a small light appeared below me. Happy to see a change in color, I angled my body towards the light and began edging closer and closer to it. I extended a hand as I approached the light and let my hand touch it. An electrical shock coursed through my body, stunning me. My hand remained connected and the charge kept increasing in strength. Soon, the black void around me shattered into millions of pieces, and I found myself back inside my own mind, my hand in the white pillar of energy. I pulled my hand out of it and looked at it. It was unaffected by the blast of energy that just shocked me. Massaging my wrist, I turned around and noticed the link Kirlia and I had shared. It was…much more extravagant looking and wider as well. I took a few steps towards it, hesitant about getting to close from the last encounter, and slowly extended a hand. When no barrier stopped me, I slowly peered into the tunnel and saw myself lying on a bed. More precisely, I was looking through the eyes of my partner who was watching me carefully.

"Hello?" I whispered in the tunnel. The image jumped and looked around a bit before it blacked out. I backed away from the tunnel, about to charge into it when it lit up.

"Come back to the surface Master." A female voice called out from it. It sounded like Kirlia's but older and more powerful. "I am patiently waiting for you to return to me." It sounded like a Gardevoir, but she was calling me Master. I pressed a hand against the tunnel and it pulsed slightly from my touch. I almost walked into the tunnel, but I felt a gentle push from her.

"Come back to the surface…" she whispered. I turned around and looked at the pillar of light, wondering how the hell I could escape the depth of my own mind. With nothing else to lose, I walked over to the pillar and pressed a hand on it.

"Let's get out of here…" I whispered. The pillar pulsed and I felt myself slowly fade away.

…

I opened my eyes to see a bright white ceiling. I knew I was lying in a bed with a sheet over me. I carefully leaned up and rubbed my eyes and looked over to my left to see a blue-haired, golden-eyed Gardevoir smiling back at me.

"{Welcome back Master.}" She said calmly. "{How are you feeling?}"

"A bit better, thanks…" She got up and walked over to the bed, sitting next to me.

"{I'm so happy to hear that.}" She said, placing a hand on my face. I could feel her happiness; it was literally overflowing from her and started to affect me as well. There was a knock on the door. She slowly removed her hand and returned to her seat; it looked like she had never moved from where she sat.

"Johnny?" It sounded like Fae. I cleared my throat.

"Yeah?" I called back. The door opened slightly and Fae walked in. Gardevoir hummed a little bit, starling Fae.

"{What are you doing?}" I asked her.

"{Making sure she doesn't try anything…funny.}" Gardevoir said; a hint of jealousy in her voice. Fae eyed Gardevoir while slowly sliding towards me.

"I'm just here to check up on you." She said. "Your Gardevoir brought you from the woods. She appeared to be injured herself but you were completely unconscious. We were able to quickly heal her, but all we could do for you was to let you rest until you came to." I nodded and started to pull off the sheets when she placed a hand on mine.

"No, you're going to rest here for a bit." When I tried again, she only increased the pressure on my hand. I probably could've overpowered her and left anyway, but it was true, I was extremely tired still. Sighing, I slowly leaned back and rested on the pillow. She smiled and removed her hand from me and looked at Gardevoir.

"Make sure he doesn't move from the bed. He needs his rest." Gardevoir nodded and hummed a little bit. Fae smiled nervously and quickly walked out of the room, almost slamming the door behind her.

"{I guess I better take her words to heart.}" Gardevoir said, standing up. I looked over at her, slightly confused as she slowly walked over to me. Without making a sound, she psychically lifted up the sheet and slipped in the bed and lay down next to me. Her body was warm and soft; almost irresistible.

"Don't get too close…" I whispered. "You might regret it…" She placed a finger on my lips and kissed me, forcing her tongue into my mouth.

"{Just following 'orders'.}" She said. "{I'll make sure you won't leave this bed.}" She slowly pulled herself around and soon was resting on top of my body. She put her arms around me, effectively pinning herself to my body, placing her head against my chest. I could feel her every curve, every slight movement she made, and even her heart beat. Just lying there for a few minutes was enough to send my heart racing.

"{Mmmm, you're warm today Master.}" She whispered. "{I'm happy that you're safe now.}" I wrapped an arm around her waist and used my other arm to slowly play with her hair.

"I was more concerned about you. I don't want to see you get hurt again." She giggled and looked up at my face.

"{Let's rest for now Master. I know you're weary and I haven't slept since the incident.}"

"Wait, how long was I out?" I asked her, suddenly curious.

"{About three days.}" She said. I sighed and leaned forward, kissing her forehead.

"Then let's get some sleep." I said, closing my eyes. As I drifted off into sleep, I felt the vibrations of her purring; gentle and consistent. A warm feeling blossomed in my chest as I fell asleep with the girl I love resting in my arms.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

When I awoke, it took me a few seconds to actually remember where I was and what had happened recently. The warm feeling next to my body was a confirmation that Kirlia had in fact evolved to Gardevoir and that I was not about to move from this comfortable position. I felt something pulse in my mind and my vision began to change slightly. It, somehow, got clearer. I already had perfect eyesight, but the objects in the room seemed to be much clearer, more focused when I looked at them. Not only that, but if I focused on them, I could _feel_ them. I could feel the texture of the wood dresser as if I was running my hand across it without actually touching it. Instead of feeling it with my hands though, the feeling was directly in my mind.

A small knock at the door brought me out of my concentration. I could still feel the objects in the room, but now that I wasn't focusing on one specific object, the sensation of touching the object faded from my mind. The door slowly creaked open and Fae walked in holding a glass of water. She slowly closed the door before looking at me.

"Is she asleep still?" Fae mouthed. I slowly nodded and placed my head on the pillow, placing my face in front of hers. Her mouth was slightly open, opening a little when she breathed in and out. I thought it was rather adorable the way she slept and was tempted to kiss her but I could feel Fae's presence still.

…Wait, I could feel her presence? I closed my eyes and began to think for a bit. Before, I would have to go into my mind and look around mentally which would stop my movements physically. Now, I could feel her presence in the room, it was like flowers and felt very refreshing. I looked back up at her; she was quietly walking around the room cleaning up a few things and picking up miscellaneous items. There was something different about her and after looking at her for a second I realized what it was. I could see a glowing sphere in the middle of her chest. I blinked a bit and focused on the dresser again and felt the smooth wooden surface in my mind before returning my focus to her. The sphere wasn't visible for a little while but it suddenly it appeared. It didn't glow brightly and if I stopped focusing or watching her, the sphere went away. I looked down at Gardevoir and focused on her for a little bit. However, no sphere appeared, instead, I felt our bond twinge a bit, like I was trying to enter it.

A loud crash brought my attention back to the rest of the room, and I looked over at Fae who was bent over a pot. She slowly turned and looked at me, then at Gardevoir. She was somehow still sleeping peacefully, completely undisturbed by the loud noise Fae had just caused. Fae's expression was humorous as she slowly picked up the pieces of the pot. I thought about seeing if I could possibly help her out, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Instead, I focused on her and waited until her sphere appeared.

{Fae?} I thought. She squeaked a little and nearly dropped the remains of the already shattered pot and looked at me.

"What!" she whispered. I held a finger to my lips and shook my head.

{Think your replies.} I said.

{Uh…OK?}

{Haha! I can hear you!} She nearly dropped the pot remains again and decided to walk over to the dresser and set them down.

{What? That's crazy! Next time don't scare the hell out of me like that!} She said; a hint of annoyance in her tone. I stuck my tongue out and smiled.

{Didn't think it would work, sorry!} She rolled her eyes and picked the pot remains up and slowly opened the door, walking out and closing it behind her. Her presence left the room and the focus connection I had weakened before breaking completely, stripping us of our silent communication. Brimming with excitement at my latest discovery I decided to try something new. I looked over at the glass she had brought in and focused on it briefly, able to feel every detail of the glass. Slowly, I somewhat imagined my hand around the glass and 'lifted' with my imaginary hand. I nearly jumped in shock as the glass slowly rose in the air. I was glad that Fae wasn't in the room; she would've probably flipped…no knowing her personality, she would have flipped out completely at a floating glass in her room with absolutely no physical constraints holding it up.

"I'm breaking every law of physics out there right now…" I said with a grin. "And loving every second of it." I decided to set the glass back down before I did something stupid, like squeeze to hard and shatter the glass. After setting it down on the table, I looked down at Gardevoir and kissed her on the forehead. She moaned a little and rolled around, placing her back to me.

"Garde…" I said quietly, running my hands on her back. I heard a soft moan and felt our bond awaken. Without thinking about it I tightened my grip on her back and pulled her closer to me, resting my chin on the gap in between her neck and shoulder. However, as I started to immerse myself in our bond, I was stopped and held in my own body.

{I don't think that's a wise idea until we…talk.} she said sleepily. {If I don't suppress anything…well…it will be very bad.} I loosened my grip on her and she turned around to face me. Her sleepy golden eyes greeted me and I leaned forward, kissing her on the lips. When I pulled back, her eyes were closed and her tongue slowly slid around her lips. She shuddered slightly and opened her eyes, looking back at me.

{As much as I enjoyed that, we need to talk first…} She said. I nodded and focused my attention on her, resisting any temptation to make out with her right here and now, despite Fae being in the next room relatively close to the door.

{I'm sure you're aware of this already…} she said, looking down and blushing. {That I love you.} I was surprised she'd come out and say it; she's definitely not as shy as other girls I've seen try to confess their love.

"I'm aware." I said smiling. She tried to make eye contact again but failed completely and looked back down.

{I just…I'm worried about the consequences of me loving you.} She said. I looked at her slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" She sighed and looked up at me making eye contact.

{When I was younger…it's easier to share this memory directly instead.} She closed her eyes and I felt our bond pulse before a flood of images penetrated my mind, blocking out all vision

=Memory Flashback=

_I was sitting in a tree, looking down at the dirt road waiting for my dad to get home from hunting. I sighed and looked up at my blue hair, disgusted with it. It made me different and nobody left me alone over it. Thankfully daddy didn't care. He loved me regardless; I could feel it! A disturbance on the road caught my attention and I looked out, thinking it was daddy coming home with a kill. Instead, I saw what I thought was a trainer followed by what looked like an oversized brown rabbit running down the road. A bit behind them were several people chasing after them._

_ "Come back here you filthy pig!" someone shouted. "How dare you kiss your Lopunny!" I was confused, what was wrong with that? I mean, he was showing affection. I kiss my mother all the time and nobody overreacts about it. I continued to watch with great interest as the trainer suddenly tripped. The Lopunny, I assume that's what she is, cried out in shock and stopped, picking up her trainer and taking off. Unfortunately, one of the men managed to catch up and knock Lopunny over._

_ "I gotcha you little slut!" he screamed. Throwing off the trainer, the man sat on top of the Lopunny, pinning her to the ground and smacked her in the neck silencing her screams. The trainer got up and tried pushing the man off Lopunny but the other people caught up and dragged the trainer up the road some before pinning him as well. I soon realized that this was probably a bad situation and I stood up, looking for my daddy. He would put a stop to what these men were doing! I was about to hop down when someone shrieked, making my heart drop. I looked back at the road and noticed one of the men had pulled out a knife and had stabbed the trainer in the arm. They were laughing at his pain and Lopunny was unconscious with one man still sitting on her, placing his hands on her chest. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but the trainer was struggling violently to get free._

_ "You think you're gonna go rescue your little fuck-buddy?" one of the men screamed. "I don't fucking think so!" he smacked the trainer across the face and spat on him before laughing crazily. I was starting to cry at this point. Why were these men treating those two so badly! I didn't understand it and I was scared. Where was daddy? Why was he taking so long to get back from hunting? The man on the Lopunny got up and walked over to the others, smiling._

_ "Yeah, let's see how fast you can run if your knees don't work." I saw him raise his fist when there was a flash of white. I knew that flash of white, it was my dad! I smiled and wiped the tears from my eyes as I saw my dad materialize behind the big guy, smashing his head with one of his blades. The man didn't see what hit him and neither did the rest._

_ "Yay daddy!" I cried out. "Kick their butts!" I don't know if he heard me, but he did just that. The men dropped the trainer and pulled out knives waving them about and frantically looking around for whatever knocked out the big guy. In another flash, the remaining men fell over and my dad stood over them and he walked over to one of them, I think the one that had spit on the trainer, and spit on their face. He turned around and looked at the trainer, then back to the Lopunny. The trainer seemed to be stuck there, frozen in fear. My daddy walked over and held out a hand. The trainer took his hand and my dad picked him up and carried him over to his Lopunny. A few seconds later, the Lopunny sat up and the trainer hugged her. My dad got up and walked away, disappearing in a flash. The trainer helped his Lopunny up and the two took off, leaving the scene._

=End Flashback=

The stream of images stopped and my vision returned to normal. I found myself back in the room, lying in the bed with Gardevoir now cuddling up next to me shaking slightly.

{Some of my emotions were repressed from those memories…} she whispered. {I was so scared though that they were going to kill them.}

"You're afraid they're going to hurt us?" I asked. She looked up, the tears sliding down her face, and nodded slowly. I shook my head and pulled her close to me. I could feel her small sobs against my shoulder as I ran my hand down her back, trying my best to comfort her.

"Nobody is going to hurt us. You have psychic powers and I have…something like that I suppose. We can defend ourselves." I whispered. Her sobs increased in intensity.

{I'm worried about you Master! I don't want to see you get hurt because of _me_!} It was breaking my heart to hear this angel of mine cry. I pulled her back and looked into her eyes.

"I don't care what other people think. I will be with the one I love." I said. She sniffed and looked at me with surprise.

{But…you saw what could happen to you, to us! I don't want to put you at risk for something like that Master.} I shook my head and smiled.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take to be with the one I love." Feeling slightly paranoid, I quickly checked the location of Fae. She was on the other side of the house attending to a pot…correction a now broken pot. I laughed slightly and returned my attention to Gardevoir who was looking slightly lost.

"I just checked to see where Fae was. She just broke another flower pot." Gardevoir smiled and wiped her eyes, brushing aside the tears. We sat in silence for several minutes, enjoying each other's warmth and company when I spoke again.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" She giggled slightly and rested her head against my chest.

{No, I'm just glad we talked…I love you Master.}

"I love you too Gardevoir."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After our little talk, Gardevoir and I slowly managed to get out of bed. The feeling of her warmth leaving me left me slightly chilled and I shuddered a little, looking back at her and wanting to just hold her closely to stay warm. Common sense got the better of me as I sensed Fae coming closer to the room, no doubt to probably wake us up or to see what we were up to.

{Do you sense her?} Gardevoir said, looking back at me. I nodded and sat back down on the bed, facing the door. Sure enough, there was a small knock on the door as Fae slowly opened it and stuck her head in.

"Hey you two, I'm gonna start cooking some breakfast." She said with a smile. "Whatcha wanna eat?" I looked at Gardevoir and she smiled back at me.

"I guess I'll have something simple like scrambled eggs if that's not too much trouble." I said.

{Tell her I'd like the same thing please.} Gardevoir said through our mental link. Fae looked at her and then back to me.

"What about her?" she asked.

"She'll have the same thing I'm going to have." Fae nodded and closed the door. I double checked to make sure she was actually walking away before I looked at Gardevoir. For a brief moment, our eyes locked on to each other and mine were unable to move from hers. It felt like an eternity as we stared at each other and I could feel something inside of me burn; I knew without a doubt that she loved me and I loved her. I could feel her love for me over the suppressed bond and no amount of shielding could stop that love from seeping over.

"You…you really love me don't you?" She nodded and turned her head to the side, blushing.

{Ever since you saved me…you've been the light in my life.} She whispered. {Ever since you pulled me out of that dark truck I've felt happy. I don't want to lose that feeling at all and that feeling just happens to be with the one I love.}

I leaned over the bed and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and placed her hand on mine, interlocking our fingers together. We sat there for a few minutes just holding each other's hands, enjoying the touch we provided for each other that I didn't noticed Fae had approached the door. She knocked lightly, startling the two of us out of our trance. We quickly let go of each other as the door slowly creaked open.

"Listen, I gotta run down to the market for a few…apparently I'm missing some important things to make eggs so I'll be back in like an hour." She said. "Sorry! Will you two be OK waiting for an hour for breakfast? I can make something else instead or-" I held up and hand and chuckled.

"It's OK, we'll be fine. I think we won't waste away by eating breakfast a little late." She smiled and closed the door. Her presence slowly faded as she ran across what I assume was the living room and out of the house. It was several seconds before I felt her presence vanish before I looked back at Gardevoir who was doing the same thing I was doing.

{She's gone for now.} Gardevoir said quietly. I got up and walked around the bed and sat next to her wrapping an arm around her waist before kissing her on the lips. If she was surprised she didn't let on as she moved closer to me and pulled me into a hug, deepening our kiss.

{Were you waiting for her to leave so you could do this?} She asked me.

{Yes…and when did you become good at kissing?} It was true; she was fighting with her tongue against my attempts to slip into her mouth.

{I'm no child you realize Master.} She said slyly. {I can read memories of yours too from years past…it appears Rachael was a good kisser…well I'll be better than her.} The moment she finished her sentence she broke the kiss and swung her leg around, sitting on my hips like she would a saddle, and pushed me down against the bed, kissing me again and succeeding to slip her tongue into my mouth. Our bond seemed to be burning with life as it awoke, drowning us in each other's excitement, playing off of each other until it was almost unbearable.

{I want you.} We said simultaneously. If there was some way to stop us, it was long gone and couldn't be done. Nothing could stop the primal instincts that drove us now to mate, to become one with each other. I didn't worry about the fact that having sex with a Pokémon was a legal gray zone, I didn't care that I could lose my police license and blow my cover, I really didn't care about anything but the blue haired angel sitting on top of me, making out with me and rubbing her body all over mine.

{Will…will you fit?} she asked hesitantly. I slowly lifted her off of my body and sat up, looking at the bulge in my pants.

"I have no idea."

=Gardevoirs PoV=

I never really thought about him being too big for me to handle. I pray he isn't, if I can't physically satisfy my Master…no my _mate_, I would be to ashamed to even show my face to him anymore. He grimaced and looked down at my petit waste and down to his bulge. It looked massive even when covered and I couldn't wait to pull his pants off and get a good look at it. Just thinking about what was underneath the thin layers of fabric was turning me on. I placed my hands on the bulge and slowly moved them around before trying to remove his clothes. How humans managed to create such baffling contraptions to keep pieces of clothing on them, but unable to do anything psychically was beyond me.

{Um…can you undo your…umm…clothes here?} I said quietly. {I can't…figure them out…} Alex let out a small laugh as he brought his hands down to the contraption and began fiddling with it. There was a small zipping noise and a small snap and the clothes were loosened. I hardly waited for his hands to move before I pulled off these pesky clothes that were blocking me from what I wanted to see and I was slightly baffled at the next layer of clothing that was on him. How many layers did humans wear on top of their own skin? I sat there for a second, staring down at the tent-like mound that was pointing up at me and saw it twitch slightly, startling me.

{It moved!} I exclaimed.

=Alex's PoV=

There was no way to conceal how embarrassed I was at this point. Here was Garde, my Pokemon, no, the girl I've fallen for, hovering over my boxers and staring at my penis. Not only that, but I accidentally made it twitch which startled her nonetheless. If that doesn't kill me from embarrassment then nothing will. I stared at her as she slowly pulled down my boxers now until my erection shot straight up in the air. She squeaked a little as it shot out and I fell back on the bed completely almost unable to hold in my own laughter at her reaction.

{H-Hey now…} she said defensively. {It's not funny…you're huge down here…}

"Huge? I'm average at best." I replied. She sent a feeling that would relate to 'oh whatever' before she placed a hand on it. Her skin was soft to the touch and smooth. I could feel her uncertainty over our bond and I looked up at her. Sure enough, her hand was wrapped around the base of my erection and she was looking at me, unsure of what to do.

"Try sliding your hand up and down some." I said. Her hand slowly moved up and down going all the way to the tip and back down to the base. Her hand felt amazing as it slid smoothly along my entire penis. With each stroke I felt my legs twitch a little bit and my hips move up some.

"Now…now try using your mouth."

{I don't know what you mean master.} Just calling me master made the whole sex appeal of the situation skyrocket and I couldn't take much more stimulation.

"Just…place your mouth on the tip and lick it." She continued to slide her hand up and down my shaft as she positioned her mouth directly over the tip. I could feel her breath on it; it was warm and something told me the inside of her mouth would be extremely moist. She slowly descended and her lips briefly contacted the tip like she was kissing it; and then I felt her tongue. It was smooth, just like her hands and moist. Her hands worked their way under my shirt and slid along my chest as she took me in as far as she could go. I was right, I knew it. Her mouth was small and wet, very wet and I knew I wasn't going to last long. I could feel her even pulling on the connection that bound us together and it wasn't long before I felt her entire presence in my mind; my vision went black.

{Let me feel what you feel master…} She whispered. {I want to please you master…merge your mind with the bond.} All sensation that I could feel from my body ceased as I found myself inside the white void in my mind. The bond was pulsating now, growing larger with each pulse. I felt myself drawn towards it. I couldn't resist and I took off towards the bond. With each step I took, the color of the bond changed, slowly fading from the blue aura it gave off to a golden color. Deep in the back of my head, I knew what was going to happen. We were going to become mates, lifetime mates. I don't know how I knew this; none of it was told to me, but somehow I just knew through instinct what was going to happen. I stopped before the bond and looked inside the tunnel to see Gardevoir looking back through, smiling.

"Do you…I should've told you…but…" I held up a hand.

"Shh, it's OK." I said. "Somehow I know what's going to happen." She nodded and took a step into the bond. Her body seemed to burst with light and she vanished. I half expected myself to freak out at her disappearing like that but a portion of me seemed to know what to do next. My body acted of its own accord as I stepped into the bond and I was surrounded by light.

…

I opened my eyes to find myself in the bedroom as Gardevoir straddled me. There was no warning as she took part of me inside her. She cried out as I grabbed the sides of her waist and hilted her, surprised that there was no resistance. I started to move when she placed a hand on my chest and shook her head.

{Wait…it hurts.} She whispered.

"I don't fee-"

{I'm shielding it…this is my pain to experience not yours.} We sat there, connected by the waists and she slowly lay down on top of me.

{Take me…I'm all yours in body…and in mind} She said before kissing me. Her tongue slipped in my mouth and explored what it could reach as I slowly rocked my hips sending wave after wave of pleasure through my body. She shivered as I slipped in and out of her, sliding as far as I could reach each time without causing pain to either one of us. She ran her hands along my chest and down my arms until she met my hands and interlocked her fingers with mine, using them as a brace to rock her hips back and forth. I could feel my limit coming soon and from her reactions and twitches, hers wasn't far off either. I opened my mouth to speak but my vision blacked out again and all sensation faded once more. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded in bright yellow light and Gardevoir stood in front of me. She held her arms out and smiled.

"Are you ready master?" she asked. I didn't answer; instead choosing to dash forward and pull her into a hug. She acted like she was expecting me to do that and returned the hug; holding on tightly.

"It is time to connect our lives together master; this is the point of no return…do you really want to do this?" I couldn't believe she would still have second doubts at this point. I pulled away some and grabbed onto her hands and smiled at her.

"I'm absolutely positive. We shall do this. I don't care what other people think, I love _you_ and only _you_." She smiled and kissed me once more before she closed her eyes.

"We are together in our bond; proclaiming our love for each other will solidify the bond to make us mates." The words sounded familiar to me, like an old poem that would be repeated nightly.

"We take each other with undying love to bind us for eternity." She continued.

"Through life and death we stay together." I said, surprising her. She looked at me as if seeing me in a new light.

"No beast can tear us apart." She continued.

"As long as we stay true to our love, nothing will vanquish our bond." We recited together. A sphere of light formed around us as the bond slowly started to fade away. For a brief moment, we were the center of the universe. There was nothing but the two of us surrounded by the stars that went out for all eternity, but I didn't care. I had the one and only star I needed right in my arms. She looked up at me and very slowly the two of us connected our lips. A shockwave spiraled out from us and I found myself back inside of the same bond we were in moments previously, surrounded now by a bright golden light and I realized something: I could feel every bit of love she had for me and she could feel every bit of love I had for her. Around Gardevoir was a glowing pink aura and I followed it along her hand to me and was shocked to see myself covered in one.

=Gardevoir's PoV=

He loved me. I knew he loved me; I could feel it every time he looked at me, thought of me and even touched me. Even as a Kirlia I could feel it but…here was the actual proof. In our link it was possible to see just how much love he had for me. The pink aura surrounding him was extremely bright, almost to the point of blinding me. However, off to the side I noticed a second aura, one that I wasn't sure what it was. He noticed I was looking off to the side and followed my view. Right next to Alex was the soul of a Gallade. It smiled at us and reached out, grabbing a hold of Alex's hand.

"I think you can take it from here." He said. "I'll take a backseat where I belong now…take care of her for me."

"…Dad?" I asked. I knew that voice. I knew the feel of his personality and spirit. He was standing next to Alex and when I called out to him, he looked my way and waved.

"You picked a good one sweetie; your mother would be proud of you." I felt tears coming to my eyes when he mentioned my mother. Alex looked back and forth, slightly puzzled at what was going on. My father turned towards Alex and held out his arms.

"Looks like you're my son-in-law, my work here is done." He walked towards Alex and hugged him and I slowly watched him dissolve into Alex. The bond slowly pulsed as his spirit finished dissolving and Alex fell to one knee.

"Ah, master!" I leaned over and helped him back to his feet. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he looked back at me.

"Thank God you're here because I have no idea what the hell just happened." I giggled and helped him to his feet and hugged him once more.

"We should return to our bodies and clean up before Fae gets home." He nodded slightly and shook his head before his eyes focused.

"Yes…I love you Garde." He said.

"I love you too master."

…

I opened my eyes and found myself collapsed on top of Alex; both of our breathing erratic after climaxing. It was hard to believe that my dad's spirit was part of Alex. It shouldn't even be possible, I watched my father die yet there he was, merged with the spirit of my mate. I was overjoyed; in less than an hour, I had mated with my master, the one I love, and found out my father's spirit lives on inside him. Alex stirred slightly and he opened his eyes. I greeted him with a little kiss and smiled at him. He put both his arms around me and held on to me as I toyed with his short hair.

"That just happened." He said slowly. I nodded.

"That was your father just now giving his approval." I nodded again.

"I wonder if he'd do the same if he was still alive." I giggled a little at that.

{Probably, but we should probably clean up…Fae would be a bit peeved if she were to come home and find us like…this.} Alex chuckled and picked me up, pulling his now soft member out of me. The feeling of it slipping out of me was slightly saddening as I had never felt so full before in my life, but nevertheless we had to get cleaned up. Just as he was bending over to pull his pants up I felt someone approaching the house. I recognized the person as Fae and she was coming home from the store.

{She's back already. We have no time left.} Alex looked up at me and down at his pants then back to me. I paused for a second when I realized that those were pants and no longer complex pieces of clothing. I would need to investigate this sudden increase in knowledge later but for now we had to clean ourselves up somewhat to be presentable for Fae.

"Alright, we're done and there don't appear to be any stains on the bed miraculously, so let's head out into the kitchen area and wait for her." Alex said. I nodded and held out a hand. He took it and I pulled him up into a quick embrace before I opened the door and walked out into the family area just as Fae walked into the house, her arms loaded with bags of groceries.

"Ah, sorry this took so long!" she said apologetically. "The store was crowded and only one cashier was checking people out so things were sluggish!" I nodded and looked up at Alex.

{Let's hope she doesn't find out.} Alex grunted in response before looking up at Fae.

"No problem; let me help you with that." He walked over and took a bag from her and moved it into the kitchen as Fae followed him. I sighed and sat down at the table and meditated. Inside my mind, I noticed our bond. It was a bright golden light that when I looked into it, I could see Alex's mind. Not only that, I noticed another stream that was moving back and forth between our mines minds. I assume this was how I knew the things he wore were called pants and that he had just knocked over the milk jug and spilled it everywhere. I smiled as I could feel his embarrassment at knocking it over and mostly, I could still feel his love for me. It was without a doubt genuine and pure. I placed a hand on the bond and instantly found myself inside his mind. The calm white void greeted me as I walked around, shocked to see hardly anything. Off to the side, however, I found a path that seemed to lead off into the distance. With nothing else to do, I took a stroll down the path to see where it would take me.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I was surrounded by blissful white, nothing but pure emotions. I was baffled by this; everyone has a dark side to them.

"But there is not a trace to be found here." I said out loud. "He lives without balance. My love lives without balance." I continued walking down the path until it quite literally dead ended. I cautiously took a step into seemingly thin air and came into contact with something solid. I quickly put all my weight on it and jumped off, fearing the nothingness would vanish and I would plummet.

"Wait…I can float anyway." I laughed at my silliness and walked out into thin air. It wasn't long before I saw something floating towards me. It was rectangular and seemed to be showing something. It was moving and rotating around, looking rather absurd doing that in space.

"…get her inside!" a rather high pitched voice said. I jumped around, looking for the source. There was some shuffling of noises before the slamming of a door and the sound of people running.

"What happened?" A feminine voice said. I looked back at the floating image and was shocked to see it moving.

"We found her like this; someone had done something bad to her." A male voice said. The woman, whom I now recognized as a nurse, nodded and ran off holding something in her hands. I couldn't make out what it was exactly as the nurse ran off.

"Come on you two!"

"Why didn't we tell her-"A new voice said, one I recognized. It was my master's voice!

"She can't know, not now at least." The one from earlier said. The view shifted and I saw a familiar face; I couldn't quite put my finger on who it was and I thought about it for a second before I was surrounded by several different images of the same man and a name appeared in front of me.

"Tom." I whispered out loud. I put up a hand and made a movement like brushing aside the name and pictures, followed by all the images and names disappearing.

"That must've been from my master's mind…I had no idea who this man was until I thought about it…" I returned my attention to the rectangle of voices. The view faded black and faded back in and I looked at it, stunned. It was me as a Ralts and…there were _things_ sticking out of me. I could see the nurse moving her mouth, but there was no sound. I made a motion to smack the side of the rectangle and my hand went through the image. I have no idea why I thought smacking the side would make anything work; not that it mattered anyway. I couldn't touch it. I turned my attention away from it and started walking back the way I came when I saw a new path form virtually in front of my feet. It curved around and off into a new direction, almost beckoning me to come along with it.

"I thought my mind was peculiar…" I muttered out loud. "Mine doesn't create random paths off into nothingness."

With nothing more to do, I took a few steps down the path and looked around at the white, cheerful void. It had a cloudlike look to it, with bits of light blue mixed around, shimmering and floating around. Just being in here made me happier and I would dread having to eventually leave, but for now I continued on this long path that apparently led nowhere.

"It's almost like the mind is playing with me at this point." I commented. "This path is leading to nowhere that I can see. It's almost like it just wants me to wander deeper into the endless void." No sooner had I uttered these words did the path stop. I almost continued walking but managed to catch myself before stepping off of the path. I had no clue what would happen if I were to step off of it and onto what looked like nothing but I'd rather not find out. Instead I slowly lifted a hand to see if I would run into some resistance. Surprisingly enough, I did. I thought for a second and came to the conclusion that I had reached the end of his 'physical' mind. The thought amused me temporarily before I thought about where to go from here.

"I want to return to the center." I said. The path pulsated slightly before I saw it begin to extend itself out into a different direction, seemingly back towards the middle of everything. I marveled at this all-knowing path. It seemed to understand exactly what I wanted to do when I spoke and it did it without hesitation. Perhaps it was my master's awakened powers at work here, or something else of his. Whatever it was, I was glad that it was assisting me else I would be forever lost in this white void.

The path did not wind, instead it was almost a straight path. With each step I took, I could visibly see the path brightening. Whether or not this was in relation to me getting closer to the center of my masters mind or not wasn't clear to me but I continued until I was back in a familiar place. I could see the bond between us, a bright golden yellow glow about it, shimmering as it pulsated; sending ripples through the framework of my master's mind. It was glorious to look at! However, something was calling me to the bond. It felt like my body was calling for me to return to it. I hesitantly looked around at the never ending white void and sighed. The warmth it gave off to me was addicting; I wanted to stay here as long as I possibly could. There would be another time for this though and I begrudgingly stepped into the bond and traversed it back to my body.

…

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself lying down on the kitchen table. The smell of eggs and bacon was emanating out of the kitchen making my mouth water slightly. I sat up and rubbed my eyes and looked around. Nothing had changed during my exploration but I'm sure my master noticed it. I felt childish and blushed; I invaded his privacy without his consent. He might be furious with me. I sighed and tried to calm myself down when I felt his gentle touch.

_Relax…I'm not angry at you._ I could hear his voice as he communicated with me mentally. _I was just a little shocked that you had explored in my mind. There's not much there as you can tell._ He was cracking jokes about his own mind. I couldn't help but laugh a little at it.

_I'm still sorry master; I didn't mean to intrude upon your privacy. It was…childish of me._ I blushed again at the statement. It was childish of me and considered rude in my customs. Our bond does allow us full access to our mates mind, but one doesn't just wander inside on their own whim and explore it.

_Stop apologizing, it's fine!_ He replied. _Don't worry about it Garde, I don't think it's childish. You were just curious and you satisfied that curiosity._

_But…_ I began.

_No buts, it's all good. Now prepare yourself, breakfast is done and did we cook up a storm._ I temporarily forgot we were still at Fae's place. I slowly stood up and stretched, yawning deeply and rubbed my eyes once more. The kitchen door swung open as my master walked through carrying two large plates of food followed by Fae who was carrying two pots that, I assumed, were filled with even more food.

_Goodness master…this is a lot of food…._ I said. He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, it is quite a lot of food. Why is there so much Fae?" She giggled and shrugged.

"I figured you all might need some food at your little house out there. I didn't think you all had visited the market yet so I went ahead and cooked enough breakfast food to last you for a while!" My master shrugged and looked back at me.

"Well there we go, set for breakfast for several weeks I think!" He laughed and handed me a plate. I took it and sat back down, setting the plate down in front of me gently. I must admit I am starving at this food looks delicious. I was about to start eating when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over at my master and he held out a strangely shaped silver instrument. I took a hold of it and ran my hands over it for a few before peering into his mind briefly to gain information about it.

_A…fork?_ I asked questioningly. He nodded and began to eat his food with his 'fork'. My fingers, when using the fork however, seemed to play games with me and refused to work. I managed to mutilate my food and it took me several tries before I finally got a piece on the fork.

_Ah ha!_ I exclaimed triumphantly. Master looked at me and smiled.

"Good job Garde!" He said happily. "You only mutilated your breakfast and managed to make a small mess, but good job!" I sensed his sarcasm, it was quite obvious and I had to think of a way to get back at him. His food was still looking semi-intact and I felt like I should change that.

_Um…Master, you should probably watch what you're doing too…" _I said, smiling mischievously. His eggs began to move around on his plate, avoiding his fork.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Master complained before sticking his tongue at me. "See, this is what I have to deal with Fae!"

"You two behave yourself!" Fae exclaimed, picking up her now empty plate. "I don't want to clean up eggs from your morning shenanigans!"

_Shenanigans?_ That was a new word that I had never heard before. I decided to stop moving Master's eggs around and returned to trying to eat my own food. This time though, I discarded the fork. It was a waste of time and wasn't helping me at all. Instead, I sliced the food psychically and lifted it into my mouth. Despite the eggs being cold from taking so long to eat, it was pretty good still!

…

It took a few minutes to clean up the kitchen when we headed out.

"Come back and visit, OK? Don't get hurt again Alex!" Fae called out. Master waved a hand back at her and began walking down the path that led back to the Fields.

"And be careful with him Gardevoir, watch his back!" I smiled and nodded, happy that she not only remembered me, but actually trusts me with his life.

_Hey, come on love. Let's get on home. I need to actually unpack now that we're actually there and I'm pretty sure we haven't had a good night sleep there._ Master said through our mind link. I looked back from where Fae was and towards Master. He was several meters ahead, looking back at me.

_Ah, sorry, I'm coming Master!_ I said, quickly running up to him. He held out his arm and I held on to it, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"It's a nice morning, don't you agree?" Master asked. I nodded and sighed, feeling content.

"I know laws were passed about Pokemon and Human couples here, but back at our real home…it's still against the law. I wonder what's going to happen."

_I'd rather not think about that Master, we live here now and aside from being attacked once…I like it in this little town. It's different then the flashes of memory I have of Cerulean and what I can see from you._

"Yeah…perhaps Garde, perhaps you're right." We rounded the corner and began walking down the path that led us back to home.

Going to start something new called author ramblings at the bottom of my chapters now because I don't know why, I can I suppose. I actually didn't finish this ramble before uploading...ooooooops! Either way, feedback would be appreciated for this story cause I'm not too sure how well I'm moving it along; if I should speed it up or slow it down, those kinds of things are perfect feed back. Anyway, thanks for reading and sorry it took forever to update.


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